'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And they swore by Allah with the utmost of their oaths that if a sign came to them, they would surely believe in it. Say, 'The signs are only with Allah, and what will make you perceive that when it comes, they will not believe?'﴾ ﴿And We will turn their hearts and their eyes as they did not believe in it the first time, and We will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.﴾ The pronoun in His saying - exalted is He - ﴿'And they swore'﴾ refers back to the polytheists mentioned earlier. And 'the utmost' is in the accusative as a verbal noun; the agent of it is ﴿'And they swore'﴾ according to the view of Sibawayh, as it is in its meaning; and according to the view of Abu al-Abbas al-Mubarrad, it is a verb from its wording. And the 'lam' in His saying - exalted is He - 'if' is a preparatory lam for the oath, indicating it. As for the lam that receives the oath, it is His saying - glorified is He -: 'they will surely believe.' And 'a sign' means: a miracle. It has been reported that 'when the disbelievers said: ﴿If We will, We can send down upon them a sign from the heaven, and their necks would remain humbled to it﴾ [Ash-Shu'ara: 4]; they swore at that time that if it were sent down, they would believe. Then this verse was revealed.' It has also been reported that they proposed that 'As-Safa' be turned into gold; and they swore to that. The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - stood calling for that; then Gabriel - peace be upon him - came to him and said: 'If you wish, it can become gold; but if they do not believe, they will perish entirely, as was done with the nations when they did not believe in the proposed signs. And if you wish, let them be delayed until their repentant one repents.' The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: 'Rather, until their repentant one repents.' Then this verse was revealed. Ibn Musarif read: 'they will surely believe' with a fatha on the mim and the noon, and with a light noon. Then He said - exalted is He -: 'Say to them, O Muhammad - in response and correction -: The signs are only in the hand of Allah, exalted is He; and with Him; they are not with me, so that they can be proposed to me.' Then He said - glorified is He -: 'And what will make you perceive?' The interpreters differed regarding who is being addressed in His saying - exalted is He - 'And what will make you perceive?' And who is the one being questioned by 'what'? Mujahid and Ibn Zayd said: The disbelievers are being addressed by that. Al-Farra and others said: The believers are being addressed by it. 'And what will make you perceive?' means: 'And what will inform you?' and 'And what will make you know?' Some recited: 'will make you perceive' with the ra' being silent; and it is in the light form; and it is improved by the transition from a kasra to a damma.

Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, and Asim - in the narration of Dawood al-Iyadi - read: "Indeed, it"; with a kasrah on the alif; indicating a cut-off and the beginning of a statement. So whoever reads: "You believe"; with the ta - which is the reading of Ibn Amer and Hamzah - the address is appropriate for the disbelievers both at the beginning and the end. And whoever reads: "They believe" with the ya - which is the reading of Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Abu Amr, and al-Kisai - it is possible that he addresses the believers at the beginning and the end; and it is possible that he addresses the disbelievers with His saying, the Exalted, "And what will make you know"; then he begins a statement about them for the believers. And the object of "He makes you know" is omitted; and its estimation differs according to each interpretation. Nafi and Asim - in the narration of Hafs - and Hamzah and al-Kisai and Ibn Amer read: "That it"; with a fathah on the alif. So among them are those who made it "that" which enters upon sentences; and it comes after verbs, like "I knew" and "I thought"; and he applied it to "He makes you know"; and some of them insisted that "no" is extra in His saying - glorified is He -: "They do not believe"; and that the meaning of the statement is: "And what will make you know that when it comes they will believe"; or: "You believe"; so "no" was added, just as it was added in His saying, the Exalted: "And it is forbidden for a town We have destroyed that they do not return" [Al-Anbiya: 95]; because the meaning is: "And it is forbidden for a destroyed town to return"; and just as it came in the saying of the poet:

"He refused his generosity, not the stinginess, and he hastened with it 'Yes' from a youth who does not prevent generosity from its killer."

Al-Zajjaj said: He meant: "His generosity refused stinginess"; as it came as an addition in the saying of the poet:

"Is there no lightning from you, as if its flash Is a fire that has been set ablaze?"

And he called for adhering to this to preserve the meaning; because if it were not extra, the statement would have been an excuse for the disbelievers; and the intended meaning of the verse would have been corrupted. Al-Zajjaj and others weakened the addition of "no"; and he said: This is a mistake; and among them are those who made "that it" mean: "Perhaps it"; and Sibawayh narrated it from al-Khalil; and it is an interpretation that does not require the estimation of the addition of "no"; and al-Kisai reported that it was likewise in the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "And what will make you know perhaps when it comes they do not believe"; and from this meaning is the saying of the poet:

"I said to the two old men, come near to meet him That the people may be nourished from his leftovers."

So all of these are in the meaning of "perhaps"; and Abu Ali weakened this; by saying that the expectation in it does not fit the verse after it, which ruled that they do not believe; and it became more likely for him in the verse that "that" is in its original form; and that the meaning is: "Say, indeed, the signs are with Allah that when they come they do not believe"; for he does not bring it due to their insistence on their disbelief; and the verse would be analogous to His saying, the Exalted: "And nothing prevented us from sending the signs except that the former ones denied them" [Al-Isra: 59]; meaning: "by the proposed signs."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It follows from this interpretation that "and what"; is negating; Abu Ali mentioned this; so reflect; and it also seemed to him that "no"; is additional; and he elaborated on his evidence for that; and some of the interpreters narrated that there is an omission at the end of the verse that suffices for the addition of "no"; and for its interpretation as meaning "perhaps"; and its estimation according to them is: "that if it comes, they do not believe or they believe."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is a weak statement; the wording of the verse does not support it; nor does it necessitate it; (p-441) and the verse can imply the meaning that it contains the news that they do not believe; and it was said to them: "And what makes you aware of this truth?"; meaning: "There is no way for you to be aware of it; and it is a truth in itself; and they do not believe that if it came"; and "and what"; is a question; according to this interpretation; and in the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud: "And what makes you aware if it comes, they do not believe."

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And We turn their hearts and their eyes as they did not believe﴾; the meaning according to what a group said: "And We turn their hearts and their eyes in the fire; and in its flames; in the Hereafter; since they did not believe in this world"; then he began anew on this: "And We leave them"; in this world; "in their transgression wandering."

And a group said: What is meant by turning is: turning away from the truth; and guidance; and leaving in misguidance; and disbelief; and the meaning of the verse is: "Indeed, these who swore that they would believe if a sign came; we turn their hearts and their eyes; that if it came, they would not believe in it; just as they did not believe the first time; in what they were called to worship Allah, the Exalted"; so Allah, the Exalted, informed - according to this interpretation - of the nature of His action with them.

And Abu Rajaa read: "He leaves them"; with a ya; and it was narrated from Asim; and Ibrahim al-Nakha'i read: "And He turns"; "and He leaves them"; with a ya; in both; as a metaphor for Allah - blessed and exalted -; and he also read - in what was narrated from Mughirah -: "And He turns"; with the opening of the ta and the lam; meaning: "And their hearts and their eyes turn"; with the raising in both; "and He leaves them"; with a ya; and the jasm of the ra.

And a group said: His saying, the Exalted, "as"; in this verse; is only in the meaning of recompense; meaning: "Since they did not believe the first time; we will recompense them by turning their hearts away from guidance; and sealing their hearts"; as if He, glorified is He, said: "And We turn their hearts; and their eyes; as a recompense; since they did not believe the first time; in what they were called to from the Shari'ah."

(p-442) And the pronoun in "by it"; it is possible that it returns to Allah - Mighty and Majestic -; or to the Qur'an; or to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; "And We leave them"; its meaning is: We leave them; and Al-Amash and Al-Hamadhani read: "And He leaves them"; with a ya; and the jasm of the ra; in the way of alleviation.

And "the transgression": is the confusion in evil; and the excess in what a person engages in; and "the blindness": is hesitation; and confusion.