Surah al-Saff

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

[Surah al-Saff (61): verse 5]
“And when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people, why do you harm me when you know that I am Allah’s Messenger to you?’ Then, when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.” (5)

He also said of His believing servants that they asked Him to keep them steadfast upon guidance, saying:

3:8 “Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us.”

The basic meaning of zaygh (deviation) is inclination. Hence the expression “the sun declined,” meaning that it inclined. Causing the heart to deviate means causing it to incline away from guidance; the heart’s own deviation is its inclination away from guidance towards misguidance.

Deviation can describe both the heart and the gaze, as Allah Most High says:

33:10 “When eyes swerved and hearts reached the throats.”

Qatādah and Muqātil said: “They stared fixedly in terror.” This is an approximation of the meaning, for staring fixedly differs from deviation: it means opening one’s eyes and looking at something without blinking. Hence the expression, “The dead person’s gaze became fixed.”

When their eyes turned away from everything else and looked only at those approaching them from every direction, they became too occupied to look at anything else, and so turned away from it.