(Until when he comes to Us)

Even if the particle ḥattā (until) is initialized as entering upon a conditional sentence, it inevitably necessitates being an endpoint for an extended matter. The pronoun is singular in "comes" (jāʾanā) and what follows, because the intent is to narrate the statement of each one of those who were blinded to his companion, in order to amplify the terror of the situation and the heinousness of the state.

The meaning is: The state of those who were blinded continues upon what was mentioned, until each one of them comes to Us with his companion on the Day of Resurrection, and he says—addressing him: "O, I wish that between me and you was the distance of the two easts." That is, in the world—and it is said: in the Hereafter.

The intended meaning is the East and the West, as opted by al-Zajjāj, al-Farrāʾ, and others; however, the "East" was given precedence over the "West," and they were dualized—similar to [how one says] al-mawṣilān for al-Mawṣil and al-Jazīra. Distance was attributed to them both, whereas the origin is "the distance of the East from the West, and the West from the East." This expanded expression was shortened because there is no confusion, for it is not hidden that it is not intended that the distance is between them and [a third] single object, since distance from one is proximity to the other, and because they are opposites; thus, the distance of one from the other is a trope for the utmost degree of distance, not their distance from something else. The context’s intimation of hyperbole is undeniable, so there is no confusion from this angle either.

Ibn al-Sāʾib said: There is no precedence [given to one over the other], but rather the intent is the sunrise on the shortest day of the year and its sunrise on the longest day of the year.

"(How wretched a companion!)" That is: you. It is also said: it refers to him, assuming it is from the speech of Allah the Exalted, though this is as you see it [to be less likely].

Abū Jaʿfar, Shaybah, Abū Bakr, the people of the Two Sanctuaries (Mecca and Medina), Qatādah, al-Zuhrī, and al-Jaḥdarī read it as jāʾānā (came—dual), referring to the one blinded and the companion.