Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:100

"Has it not become clear to those who inherit the land after its inhabitants" (i.e., those who succeed those who passed away before them among the nations). The intended meaning of these [inheritors], as narrated from al-Suddi, is the polytheists, specifically interpreted as the people of Mecca and its surroundings. Based on this, it is not improbable that the verse uses the manifest noun in place of a pronoun if "the inhabitants of the towns" previously mentioned referred to the people of Mecca and its surroundings. The verb "to guide" (hadā) is made transitive with the particle al-lām (li-lladhīna—to those) because it carries the meaning of "to make clear" (tabyīn), as narrated from Ibn Abbas and Mujahid. This is—according to some—either by way of metaphor, inclusion (taḍmīn), or by treating the verb as though it were intransitive (as if it were said: "Are they heedless, and the guidance was not performed for them?").

"That if We willed, We would afflict them for their sins"—that is, as retribution for their sins, just as We afflicted those before them. If "afflict" (aṣabnā) includes the meaning of "destroy" (ahlaknā), there is no need to assume an implicit noun. The particle anna is the softened form of the heavy anna, its subject is an omitted pronoun of the "affair" (ḍamīr al-sha’n), and its predicate is the conditional sentence. The interpreted verbal noun acts as the subject of "to guide" (yahdi). Its object, based on the possibility of inclusion, is omitted (i.e., "Has the end of their affair not become clear to them?" or similar). It is also permissible that the subject of the verb is the pronoun of Allah the Exalted, or a pronoun returning to what is understood from the preceding context (i.e., "Has not what befell the previous nations become clear to them?"). Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, Qatadah, and—as narrated from—Mujahid and Ya’qub, read it as nahdi (with a nūn), in which case the verbal noun [the clause starting with anna] is the direct object. Some people limit the interpretation of inclusion or metaphor to this reading, and the interpretation of it being treated like an intransitive verb to the reading with yā’ (i.e., yahdi), but there is debate regarding this.

"And We seal upon their hearts"—this is an interpolated, supplementary sentence. It means: "It is Our habit and Our way to seal the heart of one from whom We do not desire faith, so that he may not be admonished by the states of those before him, nor attend to the proofs." Those who interpreted "the inhabitants of the towns" mentioned earlier as the people of Mecca consider this a confirmation of the heedlessness, sense of security, and loss that was rebuked in them. That is: "We seal their hearts, and because of that, they followed in the footsteps of those before them, took no heed from the signs, and felt secure from the nocturnal visitation [of punishment] for their successors, just as one sandal matches another."

It is also permissible that it is coordinated with an implicit verb indicated by His saying, "Has it not become clear...?" It is also coordinated with the preceding verb itself. Although this is a construction of inception, the intent behind it is to inform of their heedlessness and failure to be guided—i.e., "They are not guided," or "They are heedless of guidance or of reflection and contemplation," and "We seal..."

It is also permitted that it is coordinated with "they inherit" (yarithūn). The objection raised is that the latter is a relative clause (ṣilah), and what is coordinated with a relative clause is also a relative clause; therefore, this would involve separating parts of the relative clause with an extraneous element, namely "that if We willed" (anna law nashā’u), whether it is the subject or the object. Abu Hayyan transmits from al-Anbari that it is permissible to coordinate it with "We afflicted" (aṣabnā) if it is understood as "We shall afflict" (nuṣību), where the past tense is placed in the position of the future when the future meaning is clear—as in His saying: "Blessed is He who, if He willed, could have made for you [something] better than that" (where "if He willed" [in shā’a] implies "if He wills" [in yasha’], indicated by the subsequent "and He would make for you palaces"). Thus, he makes law conditional in the sense of in (if), not the law that implies something would have occurred due to the occurrence of something else, and he considers aṣabnā to mean "We shall afflict."

Sometimes, interpretation is employed on the side of the coordinated element, so "We seal" (natba’u) is interpreted as "We have sealed" (taba’nā). Al-Zamakhshari rejected this coordination on the grounds that the meaning does not support it, because the people were already sealed in their hearts, described by the same traits as those before them regarding the committing of sins and being afflicted for them; and this [coordination] would lead to the conclusion that they were devoid of these traits, and that had Allah willed, they would have been characterized by them. Ibn al-Munir countered this by saying that it does not necessitate that those addressed must be described by "the seal." Even if they were disbelievers and sinners, the "seal" is not an absolute requirement of committing sin; rather, it is the persistence in disbelief, the insistence upon it, and the excessiveness in determination until the one so described becomes one for whom acceptance of the truth is despaired of. Not every disbeliever is of this level. Rather, the disbeliever is threatened for his persistence in disbelief that Allah might seal his heart so that he may never believe. This is the implication of coordinating it with "We afflicted."

Thus, the verse threatens them with two matters: affliction for their sins and the sealing of their hearts. The second is more severe than the first, and it is also a type of affliction for sins and punishment for them, but it is the most stinging of torments and the most eloquent of punishments. Allah often punishes for a sin by causing one to fall into a greater sin, and for disbelief by increasing one's determination and excessiveness in it—as He, the Glorified, said: "It only increased them in defilement alongside their defilement," just as He increased the believers in faith alongside their faith. This type of reward and punishment is appropriate for that which was the cause of it and acts as a recompense for it; the reward for faith is faith, and the reward for disbelief is disbelief.

Al-Zamakhshari merely feared, from this perspective, the inclusion of the "seal" within the will of Allah, for in his view, that is impossible because he claims it is ugly, and Allah the Exalted is far above that. In al-Taqrib, there is a similar discussion, as he scrutinized what al-Zamakhshari mentioned, noting that what was mentioned was that they were sinners, not the sealing itself. Also, it is permissible that the meaning intended is "if We had willed, We would have increased their sealing," and we would have made them feel secure. The truth—as stated by more than one researcher—is that preventing this coordination is not only based on it not aligning with his opinion, but because the structure does not require it. His saying, "so they do not hear"—meaning a hearing of understanding and admonition—indicates that their hearts are sealed because the intent is the continuity of this state, not that it is included under the ruling of the Will; for the lack of hearing was already existing, and if it were [subject to the will], it would have to be negated. Furthermore, the [grammatical] verification does not fit the purpose. "Thus does Allah seal the hearts of the disbelievers" is a manifest proof that the inheritors and the inherited are both of the people of the seal, just as His saying "So they would not have believed" indicates that their state is contrary to faith and that it would never come from them at all. Also, the continuation of the seal or its increase is not suitable as a punishment for disbelievers; rather, it may be a punishment for a believer's sin, as mentioned in the authentic traditions. The quibbles raised against this are not worthy of attention.