Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:198

(And if you invite them to guidance), meaning: to guide you to that by which you may attain your objectives, whether absolutely or specifically regarding the customary scheming, (they do not hear), meaning: they do not hear your supplication, let alone provide assistance or aid. This is more eloquent than denying their following, and to interpret "hearing" as "acceptance"—as in the phrase Sami'a Allahu liman hamidahu (Allah hears those who praise Him), as claimed by some—is baseless.

His statement, may He be glorified and exalted: (And you see them looking at you, while they do not see) is an explanation of their inability to perceive, following the explanation of their inability to hear. Through this, according to what has been said, the rationale for showing them no concern is completed, so there is no repetition whatsoever. Al-Wahidi said: "What has passed serves to distinguish between one whose worship is permissible and one whose worship is not." This is a response to their attempt to frighten the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with their idols.

The "seeing" here is visual. The sentence "looking at you" (yanzurun ilayka) is in the position of a state (hal) of the object referring to the idols, and the nominal sentence "while they do not see" (wahum la yubsirun) is a state of the subject of "looking." The address is directed to every individual among the polytheists. The meaning is: You see the idols with your own eyes, appearing like one who looks at you, and it is imagined to you that they see, because they have been crafted with eyes made of glistening jewels and fashioned in the image of one who turns their pupils toward an object they are looking at; yet, they are incapable of seeing. Directing the address to each individual polytheist, rather than the collective, is as in the preceding addresses, to signal that seeing the idols in the aforementioned state cannot be experienced by everyone simultaneously, but rather by whoever faces them.

Many have held that the address in (you see them) is for anyone who encounters them. Others have said it is directed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while the third-person pronoun remains as it is. Or, it is directed to the polytheists, with the rationale having been completed at His saying: (they do not hear). That is, you see the polytheists looking at you while they do not truly see you as you are, or they do not see the proof, as Al-Suddi and Mujahid said.

It has been narrated from Al-Hasan that the address in (And if you invite them) is to the believers, with the rationale having been completed at His saying: (they help). That is, "And if you, O believers, invite the polytheists to Islam, they will pay no heed to you and will not accept from you." Based on this, it is suitable to interpret "hearing" as "acceptance," and to treat (And you see them) as an address to the master of those addressed, by way of Tajreed (abstracting a person from himself). In this speech, there is a reminder that the evidences of prophethood and the signs of the Message present in him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, are so manifest that they are barely hidden from those who look.

Some have permitted that the "seeing" be intellectual; in which case, what was in the position of a state would be in the position of a second object. However, the first interpretation is more appropriate.