Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:178

(Whoever Allah guides, he is the [truly] guided; and whoever He leaves astray—it is they who are the losers.)

This is an appendance and a confirmation of what the preceding story contained, according to what the words of some indicate. Others have said: When He, the Exalted, commanded His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to relate to those misguided ones the stories of their brother so that they might reflect and abandon what they are upon, He followed that with the verification that guidance and misguidance are from His side—Exalted and Majestic is He.

Exhortation and reminding are merely customary intermediaries in the attainment of guidance, serving as incentives to turn the will of the morally responsible person toward attaining it, in accordance with what Allah, the Exalted, has connected its creation to. The intent of this "guidance" is that which necessitates being guided decisively, not because its essence is merely the indication leading to the desired goal—as the words of some companions might imply—but because it is the perfect instance of the reality of guidance, which is the indication toward that which leads to the goal. This is supported by attributing it to Allah, the Exalted, deriving "the guided" (al-muhtadi) from it, and contrasting it with misguidance and what accompanies it. It is not hidden that guidance in this sense entails being guided. Thus, informing of the guidance of whomsoever Allah guides is—according to what has been said—on the level of the expression "My poet is my poet," which conveys the magnification of the status of guidance, that it is in itself a colossal perfection and a great benefit, and that it is sufficient for attaining every honor in this world and the Hereafter.

Some investigators have chosen that the intent is not merely informing of what was mentioned—lest it be imagined as lacking benefit according to the outward appearance, and thus necessitating a directing toward the aforementioned interpretation—but rather it is the restriction (qasr) of guidance to whomsoever Allah guides, as necessitated by the definition of the predicate. The meaning is: whoever He creates guidance within, he is the guided one and no one else, whoever he may be. This is not without merit, yet it may be said that the first interpretation is more congruent with the counterpart. The singular form "the guided" (al-muhtadi) is used in observation of the form of "whoever" (man), while the plural "the losers" is used in observation of its meaning, to signal that the Truth is one, while the paths of misguidance are manifold. In the verse is an explicit statement that guidance and misguidance are from Allah, the Exalted. So glory be to Him who caused the Mu‘tazilah to go astray.