[His saying: "And He left them in darkness."]

[The first interpretation]

166 - Abu Zur'ah mentioned, Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Jurmi narrated to us, Yahya ibn Wadih Abu Tumaylah narrated to us, Abu al-Harith 'Ubayd ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim: "And He left them in darkness," he said: They are the people of the Fire.

167 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth, narrated to us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas: "And He left them in darkness," he says: In punishment when they die.

The second interpretation:

168 - Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us, Muhammad ibn 'Amr informed us, Salamah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, in what Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad narrated to me, from 'Ikrimah, or Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn 'Abbas: "And He left them in darkness," until He brought them out of it from the darkness of disbelief by their disbelief and their hypocrisy in it. So Allah left them in the darkness of disbelief; they do not see guidance, nor are they upright upon truth.

169 - Abu al-Azhar informed us in what he wrote to me, Wahb ibn Jarir narrated to us, my father narrated to us, from 'Ali ibn al-Hakam, from al-Dahhak, regarding His saying: "As for the darkness, it is their misguidance and their disbelief."

170 - Al-Hasan ibn Ahmad Abu Fatimah narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Bashshar al-Wasiti narrated to us, Surur ibn al-Mughirah ibn Zadhan—the nephew of Mansur ibn Zadhan—narrated to us, from 'Abbad ibn Mansur, from al-Hasan regarding His saying: "And He left them in darkness, [so] they do not see," that is when the hypocrite dies, and his deed—the evil deed—becomes dark for him. He finds no good deed that he had performed to attest to his saying "There is no god but Him."

His saying: "[so] they do not see"

171 - Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us, Muhammad ibn 'Amr Zunayj informed us, Salamah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who said in what Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad narrated to me, from 'Ikrimah, or Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn 'Abbas: "[so] they do not see," meaning they do not see the truth, they say.

His saying, the Exalted: "Deaf, dumb, blind"

172 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih narrated to us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas: "Deaf, dumb, blind," he says: They do not hear guidance, nor do they see it, nor do they understand it.