“So would you perhaps, if you turned away, spread corruption throughout the land and sever your ties of kinship? Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their sight. Then do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon their hearts? Indeed, those who turned back on their heels after guidance had become clear to them—Satan enticed them and prolonged their hopes.” (22–25)

“So would you perhaps” means: perhaps you. “If you turned away,” that is, if you turned away from the Quran and departed from its rulings, “you would spread corruption throughout the land”—returning to the state you were in during the Age of Ignorance, spreading corruption through the land by sin, transgression, and the shedding of blood, and returning to division after Allah had united you through Islam. “And sever your ties of kinship”: Ya‘qub read it as wa-taqta‘u, with an ungeminated t; the others read it with gemination. The latter reading denotes repeated severing, in view of the many ties of kinship.

Qatadah said: “How did you find the people when they turned away from the Book of Allah? Did they not shed unlawfully protected blood, sever the ties of kinship, and disobey the Most Merciful?”

Some said that it refers to authority. Al-Musayyib ibn Sharik and al-Farra’ said: It means: “So would you perhaps, if you were given authority over the people, spread corruption throughout the land through injustice?” It was revealed concerning the Umayyads and the Hashimites (1). This is supported by the recitation of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib: tuwullitum, with the t and waw vowelled with dammah and the lam with kasrah. That is: if tyrannical rulers were placed over you, you would join them in civil strife and assist them.

“Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed, so He deafened them and blinded their sight”—from the truth.

“Then do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon their hearts?” That is, they do not understand the Quran’s admonitions and rulings. Here, “or” carries the meaning of “rather.”

Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Shurayhi informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Tha‘labi informed us; ‘Aqil ibn Muhammad informed me; al-Mu‘afa ibn Zakariyya informed us; Muhammad ibn Jarir informed us; Bishr related to us; Hammad ibn Zayd related to us; Hisham ibn ‘Urwah related from his father, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, recited: “Then do they not reflect upon the Quran, or are there locks upon their hearts?” A young man from Yemen said, “Rather, there are locks upon hearts, until Allah opens them or relieves them.” That young man remained in ‘Umar’s mind until ‘Umar assumed authority, whereupon he sought his assistance. (2)

“Indeed, those who turned back on their heels”: they returned to disbelief. “After guidance had become clear to them”: Qatadah said: They were the disbelievers among the People of the Book, who disbelieved in ⦗128a⦘ Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, after recognizing him and finding his description in their Book.