He would have taken away their hearing and their sight}

Abū Jaʿfar said: He, majestic is His mention, specifically singled out hearing and sight—that if He willed He would take them away from the hypocrites rather than the rest of the limbs of their bodies (1)—because of their mention in the two verses, namely His statement: "They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps", and His statement: "The lightning almost snatches away their sight; whenever it shines for them, they walk therein", so their mention occurred in the two verses by way of parable. Then He, majestic is His praise, followed that mention by stating that if He willed He would take it away from the hypocrites as a punishment for them for their hypocrisy and disbelief, and as a threat from God to them, just as He threatened them in the preceding verse with His statement: "And God encompasses the disbelievers", describing Himself thereby, majestic is His mention, as being Capable over them and over gathering them, to inflict His wrath upon them and send down His retribution upon them, warning them thereby of His assault and making them fear His punishment, so that they might fear His might and hasten to Him in repentance.

470- As Ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Salamah narrated to us, from Ibn Isḥāq, from Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, from ʿIkrimah or from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās: "And if God willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight", because of what they abandoned of the truth after knowing it (2).

471- And al-Muthannā narrated to me, he said: Isḥāq narrated to us, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar narrated to us, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: Then He said—meaning God said—regarding their hearing, meaning the hearing of the hypocrites, and their sight with which they lived among people: "And if God willed, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight" (3).

Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of His statement: "He would have taken away their hearing and their sight" is simply "He would have taken away their hearing and their sight." However, when the Arabs insert the particle bāʾ in such contexts, they say: dhahabtu bi-baṣarihi ("I went away with his sight"), and when they omit the bāʾ, they say: adhhabtu baṣarahu ("I took away his sight"). Just as He, majestic is His praise, said: {Bring us our morning meal} [Surah al-Kahf: 62], whereas if the bāʾ were inserted into the morning meal, it would be said: iʾtinā bi-ghadāʾinā (4).

Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to say to us: How is it that it was said: "He would have taken away their hearing", using the singular, while He said: "and their sight", using the plural, when you know that the statement about hearing is a statement about the hearing of a group (5), just as the statement about sight is a statement about the sight of a group? (6)

It is said: The scholars of Arabic differed regarding that. Some of the Kufan grammarians said: He used the singular for "hearing" because he meant the verbal noun () and intended the sense of the canal, and he used the plural for "sight" because he meant the eyes. And some of the Basran grammarians used to assert: "Hearing", even if in a singular word form, carries the meaning of a plural group (7). He argues for that using the statement of God: {Their glance will not return to them} [Surah Ibrāhīm: 43], meaning: their glances will not return to them, and His statement: {and they will turn their backs} [Surah al-Qamar: 45],