خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَى سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَى أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Allah has set a seal on their hearts[1] and on their hearing, and on their sight is a covering[2], and for them shall be a torment mighty[3].
[1] (by their being injured to the acts of disobedience and infidelity). 'Heart,' in the Qur'an as in the Bible, is the seat of all moral and spiritual functions. Note that the Divine sealing of the hearts follows the deliberate choice of disbelief, and not causes it.
[2] All this is the natural and inevitable sequel to the rejectors' obstinate refusal to open their hearts to receive, their ears to hear, and their eyes to see the good and the true, and it is only ascribable to God as all acts, as such, are ultimately bound to be ascribed to Him. It those who will not believe that are condemned to judicial blindness which portends the more awful punishment of Hell, Cf. the New Testament (NT): -- 'Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed.' (Acts 28:25-27) 'And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.' (2 Thes. 2:11) And also the Old Testament (OT):-- 'They have not known not understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.' (Isaiah 44:18) 'The Lord hath forced out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes.' (29:19)
[3] (in the Hereafter). A just retribution, after, the last judgment, to be finally impenitent. ... 'generally signifies any corporal punishment; and by an extension of the original signification, any implication of pain that disgraces or puts to shame ...' Cf. its mention in the Bible. 'And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, ... some to shame and everlasting contempt.' (Daniel 12:2) 'And these shall go away into everlasting punishment.' (Matthew 25:46)
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[3] (in the Hereafter). A just retribution, after, the last judgment, to be finally impenitent. ... 'generally signifies any corporal punishment; and by an extension of the original signification, any implication of pain that disgraces or puts to shame ...' Cf. its mention in the Bible. 'And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, ... some to shame and everlasting contempt.' (Daniel 12:2) 'And these shall go away into everlasting punishment.' (Matthew 25:46)
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