What is the ruling on praising disbelievers for some of their deeds?

Question:
Some people praise some of the disbelievers. Does this constitute love?

Answer:
No, it is not necessarily indicative of love. One may praise him for his truthfulness, or because he was kind to the Muslims, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praised the Najashi. Then Allah guided the Najashi and he embraced Islam.
Q: Regarding punctuality, or for example, voluntary acts, what constitutes love?
A: It is not necessarily indicative of love. If he praises them for something they did in order to encourage it, such as saying: "Look, the disbelievers are skilled in their craft; the craft is better than theirs."
Q: If he said, for example: "Their punctuality is like the punctuality of Greenwich," or something similar?
A: If his intention is to encourage truthfulness in keeping appointments, and his intention is not to love them, the aim is to incite truthfulness in keeping an appointment, meaning that the disbelievers should not be better than you, meaning: be better than them.