Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (346)

(80) “Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them. Even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times”—the number is mentioned for emphasis, not to imply any limit.

“Allah will never forgive them,” as He says in another verse: “It is all the same whether you ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them: Allah will never forgive them.” He then stated what prevents them from receiving Allah’s forgiveness: “That is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger.” Neither seeking forgiveness nor good deeds benefit an unbeliever so long as he remains an unbeliever.

“Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people”—that is, those for whom defiant disobedience has become a defining trait, such that they prefer nothing to it and seek no alternative. The manifest truth comes to them, but they reject it, so Allah Most High punishes them by no longer granting them success in accepting it.

﴿٨٠﴾ ﴿اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً﴾ . على وجه المبالغة، وإلا فلا مفهوم لها. ﴿فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ﴾ كما قال في الآية الأخرى ﴿سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ لَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ﴾ ثم ذكر السبب المانع لمغفرة الله لهم فقال: ﴿ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ﴾ والكافر لا ينفعه الاستغفار ولا العمل ما دام كافرا. ﴿وَاللَّهُ لا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ﴾ أي: الذين صار الفسق لهم وصفا، بحيث لا يختارون عليه سواه ولا يبغون به بدلا يأتيهم الحق الواضح فيردونه، فيعاقبهم الله تعالى بأن لا يوفقهم له بعد ذلك.