Al-Mutaffifin: (15) Nay! Verily, they...

"Nay!" (Kalla) is a particle of deterrence and rebuke regarding the previous ill-gotten gains, or it signifies "truly." "Verily, they"—that is, these deniers—"on that Day shall be veiled from their Lord." They shall not see Him, Glorified be He, even though He, the Almighty and Majestic, is present and watching them, unlike the believers. The "veil" (hijab) is a metaphor for the absence of vision, because one who is veiled does not see what is veiled from him. Alternatively, "hijab" signifies prevention; the speech implies the omission of a genitive construct, meaning they are prevented from the sight of their Lord, and thus they do not see Him, Glorified be He.

Imam Malik utilized this verse as an argument for the believers’ vision of Him, Exalted be He, based on the principle of dalil al-khitab (the implication of the context); otherwise, if all were to be veiled, this specification would serve no purpose. Imam al-Shafi’i stated: "Since He, Glorified be He, veiled some people due to His wrath, it indicates that others shall see Him due to His pleasure." Anas ibn Malik said: "When He, the Almighty and Majestic, veiled His enemies—Glorified be He—so that they did not see Him, He manifested Himself, Majestic is His glory, to His friends (awliya) until they saw Him, the Almighty and Majestic."

Those who deny the vision of the Exalted, such as the Mu'tazila, argue that the statement is a metaphor intended to belittle and humiliate them, for one is not granted audience before kings unless they are the honorable dignitaries in their sight, and none are veiled from them except the base and humiliated, as the poet said: "When they approached the door of one of high rank, they were repelled; and people are either welcomed or veiled."

Or, it is via the estimation of an omitted genitive, meaning they are veiled from the mercy of their Lord, for instance. Ibn Abbas, Qatada, and Mujahid support this estimation, while Ibn Kaysan suggested the estimation of "honor." However, they intended for the estimated object to be general, encompassing vision as well as His other graces, Exalted be He. The prepositional phrase "from their Lord" is connected to "veiled," and it is the operative agent for "on that Day." The tanwin in "that Day" (yawma'idhin) is a tanwin of substitution, and that which is substituted here is the phrase "the people stand" (when people stand) mentioned previously; it is as if it were said: "Verily, they shall be veiled from their Lord on the Day when people stand before the Lord of the worlds."