His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon their hearts?" "Indeed, those who have turned back on their heels after guidance had become clear to them, the devil has made it appealing to them and has prolonged for them." "That is because they said to those who disliked what Allah had revealed, 'We will obey you in some matters,' and Allah knows their secrets." "So how will it be when the angels take them in death, striking their faces and their backs?" "That is because they followed what angered Allah and disliked His pleasure, so He nullified their deeds."

His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?" is a reprimand and a warning. Reflecting on the Qur'an is a means of clarification and guidance. The "or" is disjunctive and is intended to be understood as "but." And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "or are there locks upon their hearts?" is a metaphor for the rust that has prevented them from faith. It is narrated that a delegation from Yemen came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and among them was a young man. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse, and the young man said: "Upon them are locks until Allah opens them and relieves them." Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "This became significant in my eyes, and it remained in the heart of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, until he became the caliph and sought the help of that young man."

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Indeed, those who have turned back on their heels," the verse, Qatadah said: "It was revealed about a group of Jews who had known from the Torah about Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and guidance had become clear to them in this regard. But when they encountered his matter, they envied him and turned back from that amount of guidance." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and others said: "It was revealed about hypocrites who had embraced Islam and then their hearts became hypocritical. The verse encompasses everyone who falls under its wording throughout time." And "made it appealing" means he made their desires and wishes appealing to them. Abu al-Fath said about Abu Ali: "It means he led them on, taken from 'sawal,' which means to be relaxed and to dangle. The majority of the reciters read: 'And prolonged for them,' while Ibn Kathir, Shibl, and Ibn Musarif read 'prolonged.' The doer of 'prolonged' here, Hasan said, is the devil, who made his false promise of remaining seem like remaining. The truth of prolonging is indeed in the hands of Allah, exalted and glorified is He, and this is the more likely interpretation. Al-A'raj, Mujahid, al-Jahdari, and al-Amash read: 'And I prolonged for them' with the hamzah pronounced and the lam broken, sending the ya of the speaker. This was narrated by al-Khifaf from Abu Amr. Abu Amr read: 'And it was prolonged for them' with the ya opened in the form of the verb for the passive voice, and this is the reading of Shaiba, Ibn Sirin, al-Jahdari, and Isa al-Basri and Isa al-Hamadhani. This allows for the doer in the reading to differ from what is in the first reading.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿That is because they said﴾, it is said that it was revealed about the Children of Israel, who were mentioned earlier in the interpretation of His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, those who have turned back﴾. It has been narrated that a group from Qurayzah and an-Nadir counted the hypocrites in the matter of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the disagreement against him in support and assistance. So that is their saying: ﴿We will obey you in some of the matter﴾. The majority read: 'Asrarahum' with the hamzah opened, and that is on the plural of 'sirr' because their secrets were many. Hamzah, al-Kisai, and Hafs from Asim read: 'Israrahum' with the hamzah broken, and this is the reading of Ibn Wathab, Talhah, al-Amash, and Isa, and it is the source of the name of the genus.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So how will it be when the angels take them﴾, it is possible that they are threatened by it, and it has two meanings: one of them is their fear and anxiety regarding the obligation of fighting and confronting the enemies. So how will their fright and anxiety be when the angels take them? The second is that he means: their sins, their obstinacy, and their disbelief. So how will their state be with Allah, exalted is He, when the angels take them? Al-Tabari said: The meaning is: And Allah knows best their secrets, so how will His knowledge of them be when the angels take them? Here, it refers to the Angel of Death and those who act with him, and the pronoun in 'yadriboon' refers to the angels who take them, and that is weak.

And ﴿What has angered Allah﴾ is disbelief, and 'ar-Ridwan' here is the law and the truth leading to pleasure. And the saying has been previously mentioned in the interpretation of His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So He nullified their deeds﴾. Al-Amash read: So how will it be when the angels take them.