“And when they pass by idle talk, they pass by with dignity.” Muqatil said: When they hear abuse and harm from the disbelievers, they turn away and pardon. This is also Ibn Abi Najih’s narration from Mujahid. Its parallel is Allah’s saying: “And when they hear idle talk, they turn away from it” (al-Qasas 55). Al-Suddi said: This was abrogated by the verse commanding fighting. (1)

Al-Hasan and al-Kalbi said: “Idle talk” means all acts of disobedience; that is, when they pass by a gathering of amusement and falsehood, they pass by it with dignity, swiftly turning away. It is said that a person conducts himself honorably with regard to what disgraces him when he abstains from it and holds himself above it. (2)

“And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind. And those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us comfort to our eyes in our wives and offspring, and make us leaders for the righteous.’” (73–74)

“And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall”: that is, they do not fall down, “upon them deaf and blind,” as though they were deaf and blind. Rather, they hear what they are reminded of, understand it, perceive the truth within it, and follow it. Al-Qutaybi said: They do not feign heedlessness of them, as though they were deaf and had not heard them, or blind and had not seen them. (3)

“And those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us comfort to our eyes in our wives and offspring’”: Abu Amr, al-Kisa’i, and Abu Bakr recited “offspring” without an alif, while the remaining reciters read it with an alif, in the plural form. “Comfort to our eyes” means righteous, God-fearing children. They are saying: Make them righteous, so that our eyes may be comforted by them. Al-Qurazi said: Nothing brings greater comfort to a believer’s eye than seeing his wife and children obedient to Allah. Al-Hasan said the same.

The expression is singular because it is a verbal noun. Its origin is connected to coolness, for the Arabs are troubled by heat and find relief in coolness. Thus, comfort to the eye is mentioned in connection with joy, while burning of the eye is mentioned in connection with sorrow. It is said that a person’s tears are cool when he is joyful and hot when he is sorrowful. Al-Azhari said: Comfort to the eyes means that one’s heart finds one with whom it is pleased, so that his eye rests contentedly upon him and ceases to look to anyone else.

“And make us leaders for the righteous”: that is, leaders whom they follow in goodness. He did not say “leaders,” just as Allah Most High says: “Indeed, we are messengers of the Lord of the worlds” (al-Shu‘ara’ 16). It was also said that He intended “leaders,” just as He says: “Indeed, they are enemies to me” (al-Shu‘ara’ 77), meaning, enemies. Likewise, one may say, “These are our leader,” meaning, our leaders.

It was also said that the singular is used because it is a verbal noun, like fasting and standing in prayer: one says, “He led, leading,” just as one says, “He stood, standing,” and “He fasted, fasting.” Al-Hasan said: We follow the righteous, and the righteous follow us. Ibn Abbas said: Make us rightly guided leaders, as He said: “And We made them leaders, guiding by Our command” (al-Sajdah 24); and do not make us leaders of misguidance, as He said: “And We made them leaders calling to the Fire” (al-Qasas 41).

It was also said that the wording is inverted; that is: Make the righteous leaders for us, and make us followers who emulate them. This was the view of Mujahid.