Commentary
A concealed veil, like their saying. A flood that overwhelms. It is said: it is a veil that is not seen, so it is concealed. It may also mean that it is a veil behind which there is another veil or veils, so it is concealed by something else. Or it is a veil that prevents sight, so how can the one who is veiled by it see? This is a recounting of what they used to say: 'And they said, Our hearts are in coverings from what you call us to, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a veil.' It is as if he said: 'And when you recite the Qur'an, we place upon them, according to their claim, a barrier so that they do not understand it, out of dislike for them to understand it.' Or because of His saying, 'And We placed upon their hearts coverings,' there is a meaning of preventing understanding, as if it were said: 'And We prevented them from understanding it.' It is said: he limits, he defines, he sets a limit, a limit. Similar to the verb 'to promise' which means to run, to chase, and a promise. And 'limit' is from the same category as 'to return' to its beginning. And do your utmost and your capacity in that it is a source that suffices for the state, its origin: he limits, he defines, meaning one, a limit. And 'repulsion' is a source meaning turning away. Or it is the plural of 'repellent' like 'sitting' and 'sitters,' meaning: they love that their idols be mentioned with you because they are polytheists. So when they hear about monotheism, they turn away from what they hear with mockery of you and the Qur'an. And from the idle talk: he would stand to his right when two men from the tribe of Abd al-Dar read, and two of them to his left, and they would clap and whistle and mix their poetry upon him. And 'with it' is in the position of a state as you say they listen with mockery, meaning mockingly. And 'when they listen' is in the accusative case by 'He knows,' meaning: 'He knows the time of their listening by what they listen to.' And 'when they are in private conversation' and by what they converse about, when they are in private conversation, when they say. It indicates from 'when they are' that he is bewitched, enchanted. And it is said: it is from magic, meaning the lung, that is: he is like you. They have struck for you examples, comparing you to the poet, the magician, and the madman, and they have gone astray in all of that, astray like one who seeks in the wilderness a path to tread but cannot find it, so he is bewildered in his affair, not knowing what to do.
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