﴿100–102﴾ “Is it not clear to those who inherit the land after its former inhabitants that, if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins? And We seal their hearts, so they do not hear. These are the towns whose accounts We relate to you. Their messengers certainly came to them with clear proofs, but they would not believe in what they had previously denied. Thus does Allah seal the hearts of the disbelievers. We found no faithfulness to the covenant in most of them; indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient.”
Allah Most High says, warning the nations that remained after the destruction of bygone nations (1): “Is it not clear to those who inherit the land after its former inhabitants that, if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins?” That is: Has it not become plain and clear to the nations that inherited the land after those before them were destroyed for their sins, and which then acted as those destroyed peoples had acted?
Did they not realize that, had Allah willed, He could have afflicted them for their sins? This is His established way with the former and latter peoples.
His words, “And We seal their hearts, so they do not hear,” mean that when Allah alerts them but they pay no heed, reminds them but they take no reminder, and guides them through signs and lessons but they accept no guidance, Allah Most High punishes them and seals their hearts. Stain and defilement accumulate upon them until they are sealed, so no truth enters them and no good reaches them. They hear nothing that benefits them; they hear only enough for the proof to be established against them.
“These are the towns”—whose people were mentioned above—“whose accounts We relate to you,” containing lessons for those who take heed, a deterrent for the wrongdoers, and an admonition for those mindful of Allah.
“Their messengers certainly came to them with clear proofs.” Their messengers certainly came to these deniers, calling them to that wherein lay their happiness. Allah supported them with manifest miracles and clear proofs that made the truth perfectly clear. Yet none of this benefited them or availed them in any way. “But they would not believe in what they had previously denied.” Because they denied and rejected the truth the first time, Allah would not guide them ⦗299⦘ to faith, as recompense for their rejection of the truth. As Allah Most High says, “We turn their hearts and eyes away, just as they refused to believe in it the first time, and We leave them to wander blindly in their transgression.” “Thus does Allah seal the hearts of the disbelievers,” as a punishment from Him. Allah did not wrong them; rather, they wronged themselves.
“We found no faithfulness to the covenant in most of them.” That is, among most of the nations to whom Allah sent messengers, We found no steadfast adherence to the charge Allah had enjoined upon all peoples, nor did they submit to the commands He conveyed to them through His messengers.
“Indeed, We found most of them defiantly disobedient”—that is, departing from obedience to Allah and following their own desires without guidance from Him. Allah Most High tested His servants by sending messengers and revealing scriptures, and commanded them to follow His covenant and guidance. Yet only a few people obeyed His command: those for whom Allah had already decreed blessedness.
Most of creation, however, turned away from guidance and arrogantly rejected what the messengers brought. Allah therefore visited upon them such varied punishments as He did.