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wa-ʾidhā mā ʾunzilat sūratun naẓara baʿḍuhum ʾilā baʿḍin hal yarākum min ʾaḥadin thumma nṣarafū ṣarafa llāhu qulūbahum bi-ʾannahum qawmun lā yafqahūna
Whenever a surah is sent down they look at one another: ‘Is anybody observing you?’ Then they slip away. Allah has turned aside their hearts, for they are a people who do not understand.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 127
127 . “And whenever a Surah is sent down, they look at one another, (saying): ‘Does anyone see you?’ Then they turn away. Allah has turned away their hearts because they are a people who do not understand.”
When the hypocrites were at the presence of the Prophet (S) and the believers, and, at the same time a Surah was revealed, they looked at each other and, by their glances and signals, they said to one another whether anyone saw them. That is, if the Prophet (S) and the believers did not watch them, and they were neglectful of them the hypocrites might go out of that meeting in order not to listen to the recitation of the Surah. They feared that the Surah would be about them, and it might say something of their secrets. Therefore, they wanted to leave the meeting in any way they could, and when they found the opportunity for it, they would flee. The above holy verse says:
After mentioning these matters in this verse, the Qur’ān implies that Allah has turned away their hearts. That is, their hearts have turned away from the truth. The reason of this status is that they are a group of people who do not apprehend the reality and do not think correctly. Thus, it is their own difficulty that as a result of enmity with the truth, they have brought forth such a situation for themselves, and Allah (s.w.t.) has turned away their hearts because of their own deeds. The verse says:
As if the hypocrites do not take any admonishment from the holy verses of the Qur’ān. They are, for example, like a consumed lamp that whatever it be contacted to electricity it does not work.