And when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, loved their righteousness, he loved to seek forgiveness for them. Perhaps some of their relatives urged him to do so. Therefore, his seeking forgiveness was such that he would ask about it. He said, [pointing out] that they are not worthy of forgiveness because they do not believe.

﴿Equal﴾ meaning that this state of equality has prevailed and dominated, which they dealt with themselves until they embodied it, becoming free from any inclination or burden ﴿upon them﴾.

And when he had removed in this context the meaning of inquiry, the meaning of ﴿Did you seek forgiveness for them?﴾ is in this time ﴿Or did you not seek forgiveness for them?﴾ meaning in it or thereafter - your seeking forgiveness for them and your abstaining from it are equal to them, because it has no effect on them. Therefore, its result - punishment for them - is the extreme denial in His saying: ﴿Allah will not forgive﴾ meaning the Greatest King ﴿for them﴾. And perhaps the expression with inquiry after removing its meaning indicates that if they had witnessed the King, he would inquire of you about that, it would not have deterred them from their hypocrisy, nor would it have added anything to what they have. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, restricted this verse with the verse of repentance, which allows for choice, and that if he exceeds seventy, forgiveness is hoped for. Thus, he permitted praying for Ibn Ubayy, the head of the hypocrites, and seeking forgiveness for him due to what he had, blessings and peace be upon him, of [great] compassion for the servants of Allah and increased mercy for them, especially for those who were among his companions and the Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them, with this care.

And when the estimation for justifying the exaggeration in the report after seeking forgiveness for them is because their wickedness has become entrenched, thus becoming a fixed description for them, he expressed that by saying: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾ meaning the One who has the attributes of perfection ﴿does not guide the people﴾ meaning the people who have strength within themselves to what they desire ﴿the wicked﴾ because they have no excuse for persisting in wickedness, which is the removal from the fortress of Islam by breaking it and tearing it down repeatedly, and training on it until it has become entrenched. They are firmly rooted in hypocrisy and have deviated from the possibility of reform.