Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL AN'AAM [22]

22. And on the Day when We shall gather them all together, We shall say to those who joined partners in worship (with Us): ”Where are your partners (false deities) whom you used to assert (as partners in worship with Allah)'' 23. There will then be (left) no Fitnah for them but to say: ”By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who joined others (in worship with Allah).'' 24. Look! How they lie against themselves! But the (lie) which they invented will disappear from them. 25. And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, those who disbelieve say: ”These are nothing but tales of the men of old.'' 26. And they prevent others from him and they themselves keep away from him, and (by doing so) they destroy none but themselves, yet they perceive (it) not. About the polytheists, Allah said:

(And on the Day when We shall gather them all together,) This is on the Day of Resurrection, when He will ask them about the idols and rivals that they worshipped instead of Him. Allah will say to them,

(Where are your partners (false deities) whom you used to assert (as partners in worship with Allah)) Allah said in Surat Al-Qasas,

(And (remember) the Day when He will call to them, and say, ”Where are My (so-called) partners whom you used to assert'') ﴿28:62﴾. Allah's statement,

(There will then be (left) no Fitnah for them) means, argument. `Ata' Al-Khurasani said that,

(There will then be (left) no Fitnah for them) in the face of the affliction that will be placed on them,

(but to say: ”By Allah, our Lord, we were not those who joined others (in worship with Allah).'') Allah said next,

(Look! How they lie against themselves! But the (lie) which they invented will disappear from them.) which is similar to His other statement,

(Then it will be said to them: ”Where are (all) those whom you used to join in worship as partners. Besides Allah'' They will say, ”They have vanished from us: Nay, we did not invoke (worship) anything before.'' Thus Allah leads astray the disbelievers.) ﴿40:73-74﴾   Allah's statement,

(And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;) means, they come to you, (O Muhammad ), so that they hear you recite the Qur'an, but its recitation does not benefit them, because Allah has set veils on their hearts, and so they do not understand the Qur'an,

(and (set) deafness in their ears;) that prevents them from hearing what benefits them. In another Ayah, Allah said;

(And the example of those who disbelieve, is as that of him who shouts at one who hears nothing but calls and cries.) ï´¿2:171ï´¾ Allah said next,

(if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;) meaning, they will not believe in any of the Ayat, proofs, clear evidences and signs they witness because they do not have sound comprehension or fair judgment. In another Ayah, Allah said,

(Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen.) ï´¿8:23ï´¾ Allah said,

(to the point that when they come to you to argue with you...) using falsehood against truth,

(those who disbelieve say: ”These are nothing but tales of the men of old.'') The disbelievers say, what you (O Muhammad ) brought us was taken from the books of those who were before us, meaning plagiarized,

(And they prevent others from him and they themselves keep away from him,) They discourage people from following the truth, believing in Muhammad and obeying the Qur'an,

(and they themselves keep away from him,) They thus combine both evil acts, for they neither benefit themselves, nor let others benefit from the Prophet . `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said that the Ayah,

(And they prevent others from him.) means, they hinder people from believing in Muhammad . Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyyah said, ”The disbelievers of Quraysh used to refrain from meeting Muhammad and they discouraged people from coming to him.'' Similar was reported from Qatadah, Mujahid and Ad-Dahhak and several others.

(and (by doing so) they destroy not but themselves, yet they perceive (it) not.) They destroy themselves by committing this evil action, and its harm will only touch them. Yet, they do not perceive this fact!