Аль-Араф 7:100

After relating events of the early people, the above verses invite the people of Arabia and the people of the world to take lesson from these events by abstaining from deeds that incurred Allah's wrath, and by following the practices that led the prophets and their believers to eternal success. The verse 100 speaks " Is it not a guidance to those who inherit the land after it's (former) inhabitants that, if We so will, We would afflict them for their sins?" The word ھَدٰی۔ یَھدِی signifies to guide or to inform. The events narrated above have been made the subject of the verb (guide) یَھدِ. The verse implies that these events should serve as a lesson and a means of guidance for later generations who have inherited the land from their earlier owners. They too, can incur the punishment of Allah for their disbelief just as their ancestors met the fate of ruin and disaster for their disobedience.

Thereafter, the verse says:

وَنَطْبَعُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ

"And We seal their hearts so that they do not listen"

The word: طبع is used for printing or stamping. It implies that these people have taken no lesson from the past events with the result that they incurred the wrath of Allah making their hearts sealed. They are, therefore, unable to listen to the truth. The Holy Prophet g said in a Tradition: When one commits sin for the first time a black dot is placed on his heart, if he keeps committing sins for the second and third times the second and third dots are placed. If one increases in his sins without repenting to Allah, these black spots keep increasing until the whole heart is painted black." This ultimately deprives man of his natural faculty of distinguishing right from wrong. This, consequently, leads one to receive evil as good and good as evil, harmful as useful and useful as harmful.

This perversion of human understanding has been termed in the Holy Qur'an as ' ra'n' signifying the rust of the heart. In this verse, as in many other verses of the Holy Qur'an, this stage has been named as 'taba". The result of their hearts being sealed has been mentioned at the end of the verse by saying (لَا يَسْمَعُونَ ) "so that they do not listen". One may think that more appropriate expression in this context was (S' ) they do not understand" as the adverse effect of sealing, of فَهُمْ لَا يَفقھُونَ the heart is obviously related to the faculty of understanding and not to the listening. The Holy Qur'an has used the word 'listen' to indicate that understanding is usually the result of listening to the truth. Now, since their hearts have been sealed they are rendered unable to listening the truth. Another explanation to this may be that all human faculties and limbs are controlled by human heart, that is, the function of all human parts is adversely affected by malfunctioning of the heart. When one loves anyone or anything he likes everything - good or bad - in that person or object.