'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, says: "Indeed, those who disbelieve, it is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe." "Allah has sealed their hearts and upon their hearing and upon their eyes is a veil, and for them is a great punishment." The meaning of disbelief is taken from their saying: 'Kufr' if it covers and conceals. From this is the saying of the poet: In the night of the covering of the stars is its cloud. Meaning: its covering. From this, the night is called 'Kafir' because it covers everything with its darkness. The poet said: So you remember a heavy burden after it cast its brightness with its right hand upon a disbeliever. From this, it is said to the farmers: 'Kuffar', because they cover the grain. So 'Kafara' in religion means: he covered his heart with rust from faith, or he covered the truth with his words and actions. There is a difference regarding who this verse was revealed about, after the agreement that it is not general, due to the existence of disbelievers who embraced Islam after it. Some said: it is for those whom Allah, the Exalted, knew would not believe. Allah intended to make it known that among the people are those in this state without anyone helping. Ibn Abbas said: This verse was revealed about Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and Abu Yasir ibn Akhtab, and Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf and their likes. And Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: It was revealed about the leaders of the confederates and they are the people of the pit at Badr. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This saying has been reported, and it is incorrect, because many of the leaders of the confederates embraced Islam. The arrangement of the verse is in regard to the people of the pit, and the first saying we have narrated is the relied upon one. And whoever specified someone, it is only represented by one whose unseen was revealed - by dying upon disbelief - that he is included in the verse. And His saying: "It is the same for them" means: it is equal for them. From this is the saying of the poet: And a night that people say from its darkness: it is the same for the clear-eyed and the blind. Abu Ali said: In the word there are four dialects: 'Siwa' with a kasra on the 's', and 'Sawaa' with a fatha and elongation. These two are well-known dialects. Among the Arabs are those who break the 's' and elongate, and among them are those who round the first letter and shorten it. These two dialects are less than the first two. And it is said: 'Sii' meaning 'the same' as they said: 'Qii' and 'Qiwa'.

'Equal' is raised on the news of 'Indeed,' or it is raised on the beginning and its news is in what follows. The sentence is the news of 'Indeed,' and it is valid for the news of 'Indeed' to be 'They do not believe.' Abu Amr, Ibn Kathir, and Nafi' read 'I warned them' with a prolonged hamzah. Likewise, what resembles that in all of the Qur'an. Likewise, the reading of Al-Kisai, when he lightens it, except that the prolongation of Abu Amr is longer than that of Ibn Kathir because he inserts an alif between the two hamzahs, and Ibn Kathir does not do that. Qalun and Ismail ibn Ja'far narrated from Nafi' the insertion of the alif between the two hamzahs with the lightening of the second. Warsh narrated from him the lightening of the second without inserting an alif between the two hamzahs. As for Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai - when he emphasizes - and Ibn Amer, they read with two hamzahs 'Did you warn them?' and what is like it in all of the Qur'an. Ibn Abbas and Ibn Abi Ishaq read with the emphasis on the two hamzahs and the insertion of an alif between them. Al-Zuhri and Ibn Muhaysin read 'I warned them' by omitting the first hamzah, and 'Am' indicates the omitted alif. Al-Makki frequently mentioned permissible readings in this verse that he did not read with, and the narration of such in the books of tafsir is burdensome. The warning is informing with fear; this is its definition. 'I warned' is a verb that takes two objects. Allah, the Exalted, said, 'So say: I warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of 'Aad and Thamud' [Fussilat: 13] and He said, 'Indeed, we warned you of a near punishment' [An-Naba: 40]. One of the objects in this verse is omitted due to the indication of the meaning upon it. His saying, the Exalted, 'Did you warn them or did you not warn them?' its wording is the wording of questioning, and its meaning is news. It was only expressed in the wording of questioning because it contains the equality that is in questioning. Do you not see that when you say informing: 'It is equal to me whether you sat or went,' and when you say questioning: 'Did Zayd go out or did he stand?' The two matters are equal to you; these are in the news, and these are in questioning, and the lack of knowledge of either of them by its essence. When the equality encompassed them, the wording of questioning was applied to this news due to its sharing with it in ambiguity. Every questioning is equality, even if not every equality is questioning.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Allah has sealed﴾ is taken from sealing, which is the impression, and the seal is the impression-maker. A group of the interpreters has gone to the view that this is literal, and that the heart, in the form of a hand, contracts with the increase of misguidance and turning away, finger by finger. Others have said: This is metaphorical, and that what Allah has invented in their hearts of disbelief, misguidance, and turning away from faith is called sealing. Others among those who took it metaphorically said: The sealing here is attributed to Allah, exalted is He, when the disbelievers disbelieved in Him and turned away from His worship and His oneness, just as it is said: Wealth has ruined so-and-so, whereas it was actually his poor management of it that ruined him. The majority read: "and upon their hearing," and Ibn Abi Abla read: "and upon their ears." In the reading of the majority, it is a source that applies to both the few and the many. Also, when it was added to the pronoun of a group, the addition indicates the intended meaning. It is possible that he means upon the places of their hearing, so the added word was omitted, and the added-to took its place. And "the covering" is the concealed covering that veils. From this is the saying of Al-Nabigha:

Would that you had asked the Banu Dhubyān what is my worth ∗∗∗ when the smoke covered the gray-haired one.

And another said:

I followed you when my eye was covered with a veil ∗∗∗ and when it cleared, I cut off my breath blaming it.

And the raising of "the covering" is in the beginning, and what precedes it is its news. And 'Asim read in what Al-Mufaddal Al-Dabbi narrated from him: "a covering" in the accusative, on the assumption of: and He placed a covering upon their eyes, and the sealing - on this assumption - is in the hearts and ears, and the covering is upon the eyes, and the stopping is at His saying: "and upon their hearing." The others read "a covering" in the nominative. Abu Ali said: And the reading of the nominative is preferable; because the accusative: either you take it as referring to the sealing of the apparent, and it would be objectionable that you have intervened between the conjunction and what is conjoined with it, and this, in our view, is only permissible in poetry, or you take it as referring to an action indicated by sealing, the assumption of which is: and He placed upon their eyes, so the speech would come from the category of:

...................................... ∗∗∗ bearing a sword and a spear.

And the saying of the other:

...................................... ∗∗∗ I fed it straw and cold water.

And you can hardly find this usage in a state of abundance and choice, so the reading of the nominative is better, and the conjunction would connect a sentence to another sentence. He said: And I have not heard of the covering as a verb inflected with the conjunction, so if that does not exist and its meaning is like that of the letter from which the 'ya' of 'ghashiya' is derived, by the indication of their saying: the covering, then the covering is from 'ghashiya' just as 'jaba' is from 'jabtu' in that the conjunction is as if it is a substitute for the 'ya' since no verb has been inflected from it just as no verb has been inflected from 'jaba'.

And some of the interpreters said: the covering is upon the ears and the eyes - and the stopping is in His saying: "upon their hearts." And others said: the sealing is in all, and the covering is the seal.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And we have mentioned Abu Ali's objection to this saying.

Abu Haywah read "ghashwah" with a فتح (fath) on the غين (ghayn) and رفع (raf') it, which is the reading of Al-A'mash. Al-Thawri said: The companions of Abdullah used to read it "ghashiyah" with a فتح (fath) on the غين (ghayn) and ياء (ya) and رفع (raf'). Al-Hasan read: "ghushawah" with a ضم (dham) on the غين (ghayn). It was also read "ghashawah" with a فتح (fath) on the غين (ghayn). The most correct of these readings is the one that the seven reciters have, which is with a كسر (kasr) on the غين (ghayn) in the form of "‘imamāh". The things that are always inclusive come in this form, such as: "dhamāmah", "‘imamāh", "kitābah", "‘iṣābah", "rabābah", and others like that.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And for them is a great punishment﴾ means: By your opposition, O Muhammad, and their disbelief in Allah, they have earned that. And "great" means in comparison to a punishment that is lesser than it, which is interspersed with a pause. With this imagined interspersing, it is valid that the two black things can differ, one of them being more intense than the other, as the other is interspersed with something that is not black.