18.57
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And who doth greater wrong) none is more wrong (than he who hath been reminded of the revelations of his Lord) he who has been admonished with the revelations of his Lord, (yet turneth away from them) in denial (and forgetteth what his hands send forward) and forgets the sins committed by his hands? (Lo! on their hearts We have placed coverings so that they understand not) the Truth and guidance, (and in their ears a deafness) so that they hear not the Truth and guidance. (And though thou) O Muhammad (call them to the guidance) to Allah's divine Oneness, (in that case they can never be led aright) they will not believe.
And who does greater wrong than he who has been reminded of the signs of his Lord yet turns away from them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead? what he has committed in the way of disbelief and acts of disobedience. Indeed on their hearts We have cast veils coverings lest they should understand it that is lest they should comprehend the Qur’ān in other words and so as a result they do not comprehend it; and in their ears a deafness a heaviness and so they do not hear it; and though you call them to guidance they will not be guided in that case that is given the casting of veils mentioned ever.
The Worst People are Those Who turn away after being reminded
Allah says, `Who among My creatures does more wrong than one who is reminded of the signs of Allah then turns away from them,' i.e., ignores them and does not listen or pay attention to them.
وَنَسِىَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ
(forgetting what his hands have sent forth.) means, bad deeds and evil actions.
إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ
(Truly, We have set over their hearts) means, the hearts of these people,
أَكِنَّةً
(Akinnah) means, coverings.
أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ
(lest they should understand this,) means, so that they will not understand this Qur'an and its clear Message
وَفِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا
(and in their ears, deafness.) means that they will be deaf in an abstract way, to guidance.
(But verily, your Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind in spite of their wrongdoing. And verily, your Lord is (also) severe in punishment) 13:6. And there are many Ayat which say the same thing. Then Allah tells us that He is patient, He conceals faults and forgives sins. He may guide some of them from wrongdoing to true guidance, and whoever continues in his evil ways, then there will come to him a Day when infants will turn grey and every pregnant female will shed her load. He says:
(And these towns, We destroyed them when they did wrong.) This refers to earlier nations in times past; `We destroyed them because of their stubborn disbelief.'
وَجَعَلْنَا لِمَهْلِكِهِم مَّوْعِدًا
(And We appointed a fixed time for their destruction.) `We appointed for them a set time limit, not to be increased or decreased. The same applies to you, O ido- lators, so beware or what happened to them will happen to you too, for you have rejected the noblest Messenger and greatest Prophet, and you are not dearer to Us than them, so fear My punishment and wrath.'
18.57
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
Allah puts a covering over the heart of a person and makes his ears hard of hearing the Truth when he adopts the attitude of contention, dispute, wrangling and argumentation towards the admonition of a well-wisher and tries to defeat the truth with the weapons of falsehood and cunning. Naturally this attitude produces in him obduracy and obstinacy so that he turns a deaf ear towards guidance, and is unwilling to realize his error before seeing his evil end. For such people pay no heed to admonition and warning and insist on falling into the abyss of perdition: then and then alone they are convinced that it was perdition towards which they were rushing headlong.
