﴿And they thought﴾; meaning: due to their lack of understanding; while they directly engaged in these great matters that there is nothing after them; ﴿Will there not be﴾; meaning: will there not exist ﴿a trial﴾; meaning that no punishment will befall them by it in this world; nor disgrace in the Hereafter; rather they have deserved it by their actions; so do not be amazed at their audacity in claiming that they are the children of Allah and His beloved ones; and it was read: 'تَكُونُ' (it will be) with the raising; placing the 'حُسْبان' (account) at the level of knowledge; so it would be lighter than the heavy one which is for confirmation; and with the accusative, the 'حُسْبان' was at its door; and 'أنْ' (that) was at its door; lightly establishing the verb; because the rule - as mentioned by Al-Wahidi - is that actions are of three types: an action for stability and permanence; like knowledge; and certainty; and clarification; after which the heavy occurs without the light; and an action for shaking and disturbance; like greed; and fear; and hope; so there can only be a light one establishing the present after it; and an action that occurs in two ways; like 'حَسِبَ' (he thought); sometimes it means (p-246) 'he was greedy'; so it establishes; and sometimes it means 'he knew'; so it raises; so if it is raised here, then 'حُسْبان' means knowledge to them; due to the strength of their obstinacy; and if it is accusative, it means greed; because they know that killing them is a mistake for them; so both readings apply to two groups; and Allah knows best; and also the reading of the raising indicates the confirmation of their 'حُسْبان' which indicates their lack of fear; by increasing their blindness; ﴿So they became blind﴾; meaning: it resulted from their arrogance the arrogance of the child; and the beloved - out of their ignorance; and foolishness; by their assumption that no trial will reach them - that they found their blindness the blindness that there is no blindness in reality except it; and it is the obliteration of insight; ﴿For indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts which are in the chests﴾ [Al-Hajj: 46]; even in the time of Musa - blessings and peace be upon him -; ﴿And they became deaf﴾; meaning: after him; and after Yusha - blessings and peace be upon them -; because deafness is worse than blindness; so they became like one who does not find a way at all; because he has no sight with his eyes; nor heart; nor hearing; ﴿Then Allah turned to them﴾; meaning: He who encompasses all attributes of perfection; ﴿upon them﴾; meaning: they returned to the truth; and this was repeated for them; ﴿Then they became blind﴾; meaning: in the time of Al-Masih - blessings and peace be upon him -; ﴿And they became deaf﴾; meaning: after him.

And when the mention of the pronoun indicates that this encompassed all of them; He - glorified and exalted is He - informed that this is not the case; by His saying: ﴿Many of them﴾; except that the way He presented this phrase indicates that whoever did not disbelieve among them was unsettled and not firmly established in guidance; and Allah knows best; and perhaps it is indicated by His saying: ﴿And Allah﴾; meaning: the One who encompasses everything in power and knowledge; ﴿is All-Aware of what they do﴾; meaning: even if it is subtle; and even if they (p-247) think that they have established their actions on knowledge; and it has passed in His saying: 'Whom Allah has cursed and upon whom He has become angry'; what testifies to this from their worship of Ba'al the idol; and others from the idols; time after time.