Benefits of the Verse: “And when it is said to them, ‘Do not spread corruption on earth,’ they say, ‘We are only reformers’”

Among the benefits of this verse is that these hypocrites were advised, but they persisted in what they were doing, believing it to be reform.
Among the benefits of this verse is caution, meaning a person should be cautious of the actions of the heart, where one performs an act believing he is a reformer while he is actually a corrupter. This is among the most losing of people; indeed, he is the most losing of people in deed. Allah the Exalted said: Who? These hypocrites say, “We are only reformers.” Is this a claim, or is it their belief that they are reformers? The apparent meaning is the latter: they believed they were engaged in reform. They combined pleasing the believers and pleasing the disbelievers, so they thought they were reformers. For this reason, it is said, “but they do not perceive” that they are corrupters, for their insights have been blinded, may Allah protect us from that. In this is caution against a person seeing falsehood as truth and truth as falsehood.
Among the benefits of this noble verse and the one following it is that a person’s heart may be blinded, so that he sees falsehood as truth and truth as falsehood, due to their saying: This phrase undoubtedly implies restriction and emphasis, but despite this, they have no reform.