Tafsir of An-Naml 27:13

"When Our signs came to them..."

"Mubsirah" (Manifest/Enlightening): That which is apparent and clear. The act of "seeing" (ibsar) is attributed to the signs themselves, though in reality, it belongs to those who contemplate them. This is because they were immersed in these signs, and through their observation and reflection, they were in a state of proximity to them.

It is also possible that "the reality of seeing" refers to every observer among those endowed with intellect, or specifically the seeing of Pharaoh and his chiefs, as indicated by His saying: "And their souls were certain of them" (An-Naml: 14).

Alternatively, the signs are made as if they themselves possess sight and provide guidance, because the blind cannot find their way, let alone guide others. From this comes the usage: "a clear word" (kalima 'ayna') or "a flawed word" (kalima 'awra'), because a good word guides, while a bad one leads astray. Similar to this is the Almighty’s saying: "You have known that none has sent these down except the Lord of the heavens and the earth as insights" (Al-Isra: 102), where He described them as basa'ir (insights), just as He described them here as mubsirah (possessing sight).

Ali ibn al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) and Qatadah read it as mabsarah—a form similar to majbanah (a cause of cowardice), mabkhalah (a cause of stinginess), and majfarah (a cause of hunger)—meaning: a place where insight abounds.

"And they denied them, while their souls were certain of them, out of injustice and arrogance. So see how was the end of the corrupters."