Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:100

"Has it not become clear to those who inherit the land..."

Regarding the reading "A-wa-lam yahdi" (with a yāʾ): The phrase an law nashāʾu (that if We willed) is in the nominative case as the subject of the verb. The meaning is: Has it not become clear to those who succeed—those who come after their predecessors in their lands and inherit them—this matter? Namely, that if We willed, We would afflict them for their sins just as We afflicted those before them, and We would destroy the inheritors just as We destroyed the inherited.

Regarding the reading "A-wa-lam nahdi" (with a nūn): It is in the accusative case. It is as if it were said: "Has God not made clear to the inheritors this matter?" The meaning is: Have We not clarified to them that "if We willed, We would afflict them for their sins," just as We afflicted those before them? The verb hadā (to guide) is constructed with the preposition li- (to) because it carries the meaning of tabyīn (clarification).

If you ask: To what is the Almighty’s saying, "And We seal their hearts," connected? I say: There are several possibilities:

1. It is conjoined to what is implied by the meaning of "Has it not become clear," as if it were said: "They are heedless of guidance, and We seal their hearts."
2. It is conjoined to "they inherit the land."
3. It is a new, independent sentence, meaning: "And We are sealing their hearts."

If you ask: Is it permissible for "And We seal" (wa-naṭbaʿu) to mean "And We have sealed" (wa-ṭabaʿnā), just as "If We will" (law nashāʾu) means "If We had willed" (law shiʾnā), and thus be conjoined to "We afflicted them" (aṣabnāhum)? I say: The meaning does not support this. The people were already those whose hearts were sealed, described by the same attribute as those before them—committing sins and being afflicted for them. This interpretation [that you suggest] would imply they were previously devoid of this attribute, and that if God willed, they would [only then] become characterized by it.