Tafsir of Al-Ma'aarij 70:11

Surah Al-Ma'arij (70): Verse 11

{يُبْصِرُونَهُمْ} (They will see them)

It is said: Bassartu bihi (I perceived it), and abṣartu (I saw it). Allah says: {بَصُرْتَ بِمَا لَمْ يُبْصِرُوا بِهِ} (You saw what they did not see) [Taha: 96]. It is also said: Bassartu Zayd-an bi-kadha (I made Zayd aware of such-and-such). If the preposition is omitted, you say: Bassaranī Zayd-un kadha (Zayd made me aware of such-and-such). If the verb is attributed to the object while omitting the preposition, you say: Bassaranī Zayd-an kadha (Zayd made Zayd see such-and-such).

This is the meaning of {يُبْصِرُونَهُمْ} (They will see them). It is pluralized (as yubṣirūnahum) because although al-hamīm (the intimate friend) is singular in form, it refers to a multitude and the entirety of such friends. The evidence for this is Allah's saying: {فَمَا لَنَا مِنْ شَافِعِينَ} (So we have no intercessors) [Ash-Shu'ara: 100].

The meaning of {يُبْصِرُونَهُمْ} is: they recognize them. That is, the intimate friend recognizes the intimate friend, yet he does not ask him about his condition due to his preoccupation with himself.

If it is asked: What is the grammatical position of {يُبْصِرُونَهُمْ}? We say there are two views:

1. It is related to what precedes it. As if, after saying {وَلَا يَسْأَلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا} (And no intimate friend will ask about [another] intimate friend) [Al-Ma'arij: 10], it might be suggested that he cannot even see him. So, {يُبْصِرُونَهُمْ} is stated, but due to their preoccupation with themselves, they are not able to question one another.
2. It is related to what follows it. The meaning is that the criminal will see the believers at the moment when one of them wishes to ransom himself for everything he owns. Indeed, when a person is in extreme distress and his enemy sees him in that state, it is the utmost severity upon him.

{يَوَدُّ الْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِي مِنَ الْعَذَابِ يَوْمَئِذٍ بِبَنِيهِ * وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَأَخِيهِ} (The criminal would wish that he could ransom himself from the punishment of that Day with his children, and his spouse, and his brother)

Regarding this, there are two issues:

The First Issue: Al-Mujrim (The criminal) refers to the disbeliever. It is also said that it encompasses every sinner.

The Second Issue: There are variant readings for {يَوْمَئِذٍ} (that Day):

1. It is read with jarr (genitive case) and fatḥ (accusative case) as a construction built upon a word that is not fully inflected due to being followed by an iḍāfah (genitive construction).
2. It is also read as {مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمٍئِذٍ} (from the punishment of that Day), with tanwīn on ʿadhāb and naṣb (accusative case) on yawmi’idhin, making yawmi’idhin accusative because it is in the meaning of causing torment (taʿdhīb).

{وَفَصِيلَتِهِ الَّتِي تَأْوِيهِ * وَمَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يُنْجِيهِ} (And his clan that shelters him, and whoever is on earth entirely, then it would save him.)