Tafsir of Az-Zukhruf 43:36

"And whoever is blinded" (wa-man ya‘shu): It is recited both with the shin damma (ya‘shu) and fatha (ya‘sha). The difference between them is that if the defect is in the eyesight itself, one says ‘ashiya. If one looks with the gaze of one who is blind, yet there is no defect in his eyes, one says ‘asha.

An analogy is ‘arija (to limp) for one who has a physical defect, and ‘araja for one who walks with the gait of the lame without having a defect. Al-Hutay'ah said: "Whenever you come to him, you gaze (ta‘shu) toward the light of his fire," meaning: you look at it with the gaze of one who is blind because your sight weakens due to the intensity of the fuel and the breadth of the light. This is clear in the words of Hatim: "I gaze (a‘shu) when my neighbor appears, until the curtain hides my neighbor."

It is also recited as ya‘shu (with a waw), treating man as a relative pronoun (mawsula) not implying a conditional meaning. In this reading, the reader must make naqid (in the next verse) nominative.

The meaning of the reading with fatha (ya‘sha) is: "Whoever is blind to the remembrance of the Most Merciful," which is the Quran, like His saying: "Deaf, dumb, and blind" (Al-Baqarah: 18). As for the reading with damma (ya‘shu), it means: "Whoever feigns blindness to His remembrance," meaning he knows it is the truth but ignores it and pretends to be ignorant, like His saying: "And they rejected them, while their souls were certain of them" (An-Naml: 14).

"We appoint for him a devil" (nuqayyiḍ lahu shayṭānan): We abandon him and leave him between himself and the devils, like His saying: "And We appointed for them companions" (Fussilat: 25), and "Do you not see that We have sent the devils upon the disbelievers?" (Maryam: 83). It is also recited as yuqayyiḍ (in the imperfect), meaning the Most Merciful appoints, or the devil appoints.

If you ask: Why is the pronoun for man (singular) and the devil (singular) combined in His saying: "And indeed, they avert them" (plural)? I say: Because man is indefinite regarding the category of the "blinded," and a devil is appointed for him who is also indefinite in his category. Since it is permissible for them to refer to more than one due to their indefiniteness, it is permissible for the pronoun to return to them collectively.

"Until when he comes to Us" (ḥattā idhā jā’anā): Referring to the blinded one. It is also recited as jā’ānā (dual), meaning the action belongs to him and his devil.

"He says" to his devil: "Oh, I wish there were between me and you the distance of the two easts." He means the East and the West, using the dominant form (taghlib), just as one says al-‘umran (the two lives/ages) or al-qamaran (the sun and moon).

If you ask: What is the "distance of the two easts"? I say: Their remoteness from one another. The origin is "the distance of the East from the West, and the West from the East." When he used the dominant form and combined the two distinct things into a dual, he attributed the distance to both.

"That you" (annakum): In the position of nominative as the agent. It means: Your being partners in the punishment will not benefit you, as it benefits those who fall into a difficult situation by sharing it—for they cooperate in bearing its burdens and divide its intensity and hardship. For each of you has a portion of the punishment that exceeds his capacity.

You may also consider the verb to be for the wish in His saying: "Oh, I wish..." meaning: Your wishing for the separation of the companion will not benefit you today. His saying: "That you are partners in the punishment" is an explanation; meaning: your wishing will not benefit you because you and your companions are destined to share in the punishment just as you shared in its cause, which is disbelief. This is supported by the recitation of those who read innakum (with a kasra).

It is said: When one afflicted with severity sees another afflicted with the same, it brings him comfort and relieves some of his distress. This is the consolation (ta’assi) mentioned by Al-Khansa: "I console the soul for him through consolation." But these people are not consoled by their partnership, nor are they relieved, due to the magnitude of what they are in.

If you ask: What is the meaning of His saying: "When you have done wrong" (idh ẓalamtum)? I say: It means: When your wrongdoing has become manifest and clear, and there remains no doubt for you or anyone else that you were wrongdoers—and that is on the Day of Resurrection. Idh (when) is a substitute for al-yawm (the day). An analogy is: "When we traced our lineage, it was found that I was not born of a base woman," meaning: it became clear that I was born of a noble woman.