Tafsir of Luqman 31:7

"And when Our verses are recited to him," in this verse, there is an observation of the literal wording, followed by an observation of the meaning, then an observation of the literal wording again. Its counterpart in this regard is His saying—Exalted is He—in Surah At-Talaq: "And whoever believes in Allah..." [the rest of the verse]. Abu Hayyan said: "We do not know of any other instance in the Quran that carries this pattern—literal, then meaning, then literal—other than these two verses." Al-Khafaji said: "This is not the case, for there are other parallels to it."

That is, when Our verses—those of magnificent status—are recited to the aforementioned buyer, he turns away (wallā) from them, disregarding them, acting arrogantly (mustakbiran)—exaggerating in his arrogance, as the form istif’āl here carries the meaning of tafa''ul.

"...as if he had not heard them" is a circumstantial state (ḥāl) related to the pronoun in "he turned away" or the pronoun in "he acted arrogantly." It means he is in a state resembling the one who has not heard them, while he is in fact hearing them. This contains an allusion that for one who hears them, turning away and acting arrogantly is inconceivable, given the matters within them that necessitate turning toward them and submitting to them, in the style of Al-Khansa’s saying: "O tree of Al-Khabur, why are you lush? It is as if you did not grieve for Ibn Tarif."

The lightened (unvocalized) ka-anna is redundant, and there is no need to estimate a "matter" pronoun (ḍamīr al-sha'n) within it, though some do estimate one.

"...as if in his ears there is a heaviness (waqran)," meaning deafness that prevents hearing. The root meaning of waqr is a heavy load; it was metaphorically applied to deafness, then became so frequent that it became literal. The sentence is a circumstantial state from the pronoun in "he did not hear them," or it is a replacement (badal), specifically a replacement of the whole for the whole, or an explanation of it. It is permissible for it to be a circumstantial state from either of the two previous mentions, and it is permissible for both sentences to be independent. The intended meaning of the second sentence is an escalation in condemnation. The nun in ka-anna in the second instance is intensified (ka-annah) to suit the meaning of heaviness. Nafi’ read "in his ears" (fī udhunayhi) with the dhal vowelled with sukūn (no vowel) as a form of lightened pronunciation.

"...so give him tidings of a painful punishment," meaning inform him that a punishment, extreme in its pain, will inevitably overtake him. The mention of "tidings" (normally associated with good news) is for the purpose of mockery.