أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِۦ وَقَلْبِهِۦ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِۦ غِشَٰوَةً
A-fa-raʾayta mani'ttakhadha ilāhahū hawāhu wa aḍallahu'llāhu ʿalā ʿilmin wa khatama ʿalā samʿihī wa qalbihī wa jaʿala ʿalā baṣarihī ghishāwatan
"Have you seen the one who has taken his own craving as his god? God has led him astray upon a knowledge, and has sealed his hearing and his heart, and laid a covering over his sight."
There are two words in the sentence, and which of them is the object is disputed among the lexicographers:
| Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | "He took his craving as his god" — that is, he put his desire in the place of God |
| 2 | "He took his craving as the measure of his god" — that is, he determined what to choose as a god according to his desire |
Both readings lie within the limits Arabic allows, and both are mentioned in the classical commentaries. I do not impose a preference.
The second reading is worth recording, because it says something finer: the person does not openly deify his desire; he chooses a god, but he makes the choice according to the direction of his desire. The first block of the sūra had enumerated the proofs; on this reading the issue is not the proof but the measure by which the proof is selected.
هَوَىٰ — root ه-و-ي: to fall downward; and desire, inclination. The two branches of the root and the relation between them were treated in detail in al-Najm (the verbal identity between idhā hawā in al-Najm 53/1 and ʿani'l-hawā in 53/3). I do not repeat it here.
| Reading | Whose knowledge ʿalā ʿilmin is |
|---|---|
| 1 | God's knowledge — knowing his condition |
| 2 | The person's knowledge — he went astray although he knew |
Both readings are transmitted. The second reading is consistent with the sūra as a whole — in verse 8 the type who hears and resists, and in verse 9 the one who mocks after learning, had been described. I record this as a supporting indication, not as a preference.
The same three had been enumerated in al-Aḥqāf at 46/26 (samʿan wa abṣāran wa afʾidatan) and were treated there: the instruments had been given, and had been of no use. Here the same three are named in their closed condition. The two sūras use the same list of organs in two different scenes.
And the verbs are different: hearing and heart are sealed (khatm — to stamp a seal and close), while over the sight a covering is laid (ghishāwa). What is closed at the entrance is distinguished from what is veiled in front.