Tafsir of An-Naml 27:4

(Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter) is an exposition of the states of the disbelievers following the states of the believers. That is, they do not believe in it, nor in the reward for righteous deeds and the punishment for evil deeds that it contains, as declared by the Quran.

(We have beautified for them their deeds)—the ugly ones—by means of the desires and cravings We have installed within them, until they perceive them as good.

(So they are wandering blindly)—they are bewildered and hesitant. Their persistent engagement in these deeds and their immersion in them, without considering their consequences, [is clear]. The Fa (in fahum) denotes the consequence resulting from the cause. The attribution of this "beautification" to Him—Mighty and Majestic is He—is, according to the majority, a reality, as is the beautification itself.

Al-Zamakhshari maintained that "beautification" is either a metaphor for granting them longevity and abundance of provision, or it is a reality but its attribution to Him—Glorified and Exalted is He—is figurative, whereas it is truly attributed to Satan, as in the words of the Almighty: (Satan has made their deeds seem fair to them). The justification for this figurative attribution is His—Exalted be He—granting respite to Satan and leaving him free to make things seem fair to them. The motive for choosing one of these two interpretations is the obligation of observing "what is most beneficial" (al-aslah) upon Him, Mighty and Majestic is He.

It was attributed to Al-Hasan that what is meant by "deeds" is "good deeds," and that beautifying them is an explanation of their inherent goodness in the present and the various benefits they bring in the end. That is: We beautified good deeds for them, yet they fluctuate in straying from them and turning away. The Fa in this interpretation denotes the sequence of the contrary of the cause, as when you say: "I preached to him, yet he did not heed." This indicates the perfection of their arrogance, their stubbornness, and their inversion of matters.

This view is countered by the fact that "beautification" has mostly appeared in the context of non-good things, such as His saying: (Beautified for people is the love of desires), (Beautified for those who disbelieve is the life of this world), (Beautified for many of the polytheists), etc. Its appearance in the context of goodness is rare, such as His saying: (He has endeared the faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts). Furthermore, interpreting the "deeds" as "good deeds" is distanced by the fact that they are attributed to the pronoun referring to them, while they have not performed any good deed at all; and the fact that this attribution refers to them being commanded to perform them or them being obligatory upon them does not remove this distance.

Al-Tayyibi mentioned that what supports the first-mentioned interpretation is that the balance of the opening of this Surah up to this point is the same as the balance of the opening of Al-Baqarah. His saying, the Almighty: (Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter) is like His saying: (Indeed, those who disbelieve), and His saying, Glorified be He: (We have beautified for them their deeds) is like His saying, Majestic and High is He: (Allah has set a seal upon their hearts).

The manner in which this serves as evidence for the doctrine of the majority has already been explained there: that the structure belongs to the category of confirming the report; that the meaning is their persistence in disbelief; and that they are such that no faith is expected from them at any moment, which is a sign of the mark of wretchedness upon them in pre-eternity and the sealing of their hearts.

Indeed, He—Exalted be He—beautified their evil deeds for them; therefore, they wander in the wilderness of misguidance, and in the desert of disbelief, they are blinded. This interpretation is indicated by the use of the present tense verb in the relative clause and the past tense in its predicate, the sequencing of His saying: (So they are wandering blindly) with the Fa, and the specialization of the address with that which denotes Majesty and Omnipotence, which belongs to the category of confirming the report, like the saying of the poet: Verily, she who struck a tent, migrating to Kufa of the soldiers, has been betrayed by a ghoul. The authentic reports also support this interpretation.