يَومَ يَبعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَميعًا فَيَحلِفونَ لَهُ كَما يَحلِفونَ لَكُم ۖ وَيَحسَبونَ أَنَّهُم عَلىٰ شَيءٍ ۚ أَلا إِنَّهُم هُمُ الكاذِبونَ

The day when Allah will raise them all together, they will swear to Him, just like they swear to you [now], supposing that they stand on something. Look! They are indeed liars!

EXPOSITION

The day when Allah will raise them all together joins verses 15, 16, and 17 to itself and to the rest of the verse in a narrative flow. It means that on the day when God shall raise all the hypocrites up is the point in time when they shall be subjected to the severe punishment mentioned in verse 15,^{‎[1]Mizan, 19/194.} which will be due to the evil they had perpetrated. It is the same day when they shall be subjected to the humiliating punishment mentioned in verse 16. This will be due to them barring people from God’s path whilst using false oaths as a foil, and it is the very same day when they shall be rendered inmates of the fire, mentioned in They shall be the inmates of the fire (verse 17).^{‎[2]Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/194.} The hypocrites shall abide therein forever, their wealth and children proving useless to them as verse 17 asserts.^{‎[3]Tibyan, 9/554.} This is the Day of Resurrection^{‎[4]Tibyan, 9/554; Razi, 29/498; Mizan, 19/194.} which is when they will swear to Him, just like they swear to you [now], meaning: the hypocrites shall swear to God on the Day of Resurrection that they were believers in the world, in their own opinion, just as they swear falsely to the Prophet and the believers at this moment in time, in the world, that they are believers,^{‎[5]Tibyan, 9/554; Razi, 29/498; Mizan, 19/194.} such as in verse 14 of this surah and 9:56.

There shall be different stations on the Day of Resurrection; in some of them people will be allowed to speak, but not in others. So, when the hypocrites will be allowed to speak they will swear falsely as they used to in this world.^{‎[6]Kashif, 7/276.}

Their false swearing to God on the Day of Resurrection, despite the manifestation of the realities of things on that day, would be from the manifestation of their character traits; these character traits having become mixed with and deeply ingrained in their souls while in the world.^{‎[7]Mizan, 19/194; Razi, 29/498; Kashif, 7/276.} This is because both good and bad character traits get embedded in a human being due to repeated practice. Since hypocrisy in the hypocrites had mixed with and become deeply rooted in their natures due to their repeated engagement with this trait, its effects would manifest on |Judgement Day.^{‎[8]Munyah, 28/82.} The hypocrites had become accustomed to imposing falsehood over truth by means of false oaths. Consequently, just as they live, so shall they die, and just as they die, so shall they be resurrected.^{‎[9]Mizan, 19/194.}

Similar in nature would be such occurrences as their request to be returned to the world on that day, their request to be allowed to exit the fire, their disputes and arguments in the fire, and other such things which the Quran narrates despite them witnessing with their very own eyes that there was no way such demands would be met on that day; for that day would be a day of requital and not of action.^{‎[10]Mizan, 19/194.}

Supposing that they stand on something: the hypocrites somehow think they are safe and secure in their falsehood; they somehow believe that they are firmly established on something strong and powerful which could deceive God, and thus it is possible for them to hide the truth and to prevent their falsehood from manifesting by means of negation and false oaths, forgetting that God knows the hidden and the apparent and that it may be easy to fool a human being but it is impossible to fool God.^{‎[11]Mizan, 19/194; Razi, 29/498.} It is possible that this statement may be qualifying the part of this verse, just like they swear to you [now] (which hearkens to verses 14 and 16) in which case it may be indicating their description in this world, which is that they reckon that their false oaths to the Muslims in this world benefits them and satisfies and fools the Muslims, and accordingly the terminal part of this verse that says, Look! They are indeed liars is a judgement from God regarding them in that they are lying, meaning they were certainly not believers in reality, and consequently He shall not pay any attention to whatever nonsense they utter, and nor would He care for what they will be swearing by.^{‎[12]Mizan, 19/194.}

[1] Mizan, 19/194.
[2] Tibyan, 9/554; Mizan, 19/194.
[3] Tibyan, 9/554.
[4] Tibyan, 9/554; Razi, 29/498; Mizan, 19/194.
[5] Tibyan, 9/554; Razi, 29/498; Mizan, 19/194.
[6] Kashif, 7/276.
[7] Mizan, 19/194; Razi, 29/498; Kashif, 7/276.
[8] Munyah, 28/82.
[9] Mizan, 19/194.
[10] Mizan, 19/194.
[11] Mizan, 19/194; Razi, 29/498.
[12] Mizan, 19/194.