Tafsir of Yunus 10:88

"Adornment" (al-zīnah): That with which one adorns oneself, such as clothing, jewelry, carpets, furniture, or otherwise.

Regarding Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): They possessed mountains stretching from the encampment of Egypt to the land of Abyssinia, containing mines of gold, silver, chrysolite, and rubies.

If you ask: What is the meaning of His saying, "Our Lord, that they may lead astray from Your way"?

I say: It is a supplication in the form of a command, like His saying, "Our Lord, obliterate..." and "And harden..." This is because when he presented to them the signs of Allah and His clear proofs repeatedly, and reiterated to them advice and admonitions for a long time, and warned them of Allah’s punishment and vengeance, and cautioned them against the consequences of the disbelief and manifest misguidance they were upon—and he saw that they increased in nothing but disbelief upon the presentation of the signs, and in nothing but arrogance upon the warnings, and in nothing but repulsion from the advice—he no longer had any hope for them.

Having learned through experience and long companionship that nothing would come from them but error and misguidance, and that their belief was like an impossibility that could not be realized—or having learned this through revelation from Allah—his anger toward them intensified, and his hatred and loathing for their state became extreme. Thus, he supplicated against them for what he knew would inevitably happen, just as you might say, "May Allah curse Iblis" or "May Allah disgrace the disbelievers," while knowing that it cannot be otherwise.

He did this to testify against them that no stratagem remained for him regarding them, and that they deserved nothing but to be forsaken and left to wander in their misguidance. It is as if he said: "Let them remain upon the misguidance they are in, let them be misguided, and let Allah seal their hearts so they do not believe; it is no concern of mine, for they are more deserving of that." This is like a compassionate father speaking to his wayward son when he refuses to listen, out of sorrow for the missed opportunity of his acceptance and out of indignation toward him—not that he actually desires his corruption or his following of his whims.

The meaning of "hardening the hearts": To secure them so that faith cannot enter them.

"So they do not believe": This is the response to the supplication which is "harden," or it is a supplication in the form of a prohibition.

The lam in "that they may lead astray" (li-yuḍillū) has been interpreted as the lam of causality; as if they were given the blessing of Allah only to lead others astray. His saying, "So they do not believe," is a conjunction to "that they may lead astray." His saying, "Our Lord, obliterate their wealth and harden their hearts," is a parenthetical supplication between the conjunction and the conjoined.

Al-Fadl al-Raqashi read: "A-innaka ātayta" (Have You given...?) as an interrogative, and "uṭmus" with a damma on the mīm.