7-100 Is it not clear to those who inherit the earth after its (former) residents that, if We please, We would afflict them for their sins, and seal their hearts so they would not hear?
أَوَلَم يَهدِ لِلَّذينَ يَرِثونَ الأَرضَ مِن بَعدِ أَهلِها أَن لَو نَشاءُ أَصَبناهُم بِذُنوبِهِم ۚ وَنَطبَعُ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم فَهُم لا يَسمَعونَ (۱۰۰)
7-101 Such were the towns some of whose news We have related to thee. And certainly their messengers came to them with clear arguments, but they would not believe what they had rejected before. Thus does Allah seal the hearts of the disbelievers.
تِلكَ القُرىٰ نَقُصُّ عَلَيكَ مِن أَنبائِها ۚ وَلَقَد جاءَتهُم رُسُلُهُم بِالبَيِّناتِ فَما كانوا لِيُؤمِنوا بِما كَذَّبوا مِن قَبلُ ۚ كَذٰلِكَ يَطبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ قُلوبِ الكافِرينَ (۱۰۱)
7-101a: یہد – The meaning of ھَدَیۡتُ لَكَ is بَیَّنۡتُ لَكَ that is the matter was clarified (LA) and its use here is in place of necessary.
يَطبَعُ – The literal meaning of طَبۡع is to mold something and give it another shape. It is more common than خَتۡمٌ (seal, stamp, impress) and more specific than نَقۡشٌ (engrave, sculpt, inscribe) and طَبِیۡعَةٌ is metaphorically a stamp or seal on the heart. More generally it is a mark whether a birthmark or created by habit. Most commonly the word is used for a birthmark. طَبۡع and خَتۡمٌ are similar in meaning. Some have taken the meaning of طَبۡع to be دَنَّس that is rusted it, as in بَل ۜ رانَ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم (Nay, rather, what they earned is rust upon their hearts) (83:14) (R).
What is meant by sealing: It is very clearly stated here that first a person sins and then the seal is affixed in accordance with the rules of God. The use of the word طَبۡع gives further credence to this because it is the imprinting of a special condition. Just as a habit becomes second nature, the same is true with sin. When a person repeatedly commits sin, its imprint on the heart keeps intensifying until, because of the repeated recurrence, it becomes a habit and part of the person’s nature. The sealing of the heart is only that Divine help to believe is not received when one falsifies. Falsifying is standing up to oppose the truth. The consequence of opposition is that one fails to notice any good aspect and all the energy is focused on destroying the truth. As a result, the condition of the heart becomes such that it just does not incline towards belief. This is what is meant by God sealing the heart.
7-102 And We found not in most of them (faithfulness to) covenant; and We found most of them to be transgressors.a
وَما وَجَدنا لِأَكثَرِهِم مِن عَهدٍ ۖ وَإِن وَجَدنا أَكثَرَهُم لَفاسِقينَ (۱۰۲)
7-102a: عَهدٍ – It is used here either in a generic sense meaning that whenever they make a compact, they do not abide by it, and a person who does not fulfill his covenants cannot achieve the great goals of humanity, or it means the compact of nature, that is they do not abide by what is implanted in their nature. The result is that the guiding light of their nature gets extinguished. The second meaning is preferable.
7-103 Then, after them, We sent Moses with Our messages to Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they disbelieved them. See, then, what was the end of the mischief-makers!a
ثُمَّ بَعَثنا مِن بَعدِهِم موسىٰ بِآياتِنا إِلىٰ فِرعَونَ وَمَلَئِهِ فَظَلَموا بِها ۖ فَانظُر كَيفَ كانَ عاقِبَةُ المُفسِدينَ (۱۰۳)
7-103a: Skipping over many prophets in the intervening period, mention is made of Moses and the narration goes into a lot of explanations and details. The reason for this is the great similarity between the Holy Prophet and Moses in many matters because the Holy Prophet is the fulfilment of the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:18. Moses is mentioned in the Quran in the following places: 2:49-71, 4:153, 5:20-26, 7:103-156, 10:75-92, 11:96-99, 17:101-104, 18:6-82, 19:51-53, 20:9-98, 23:45-49, 26:10-68, 27:7-14, 28:3-48, 37:114-122, 40:23-55, 43:46-56, 44:17-33, 51:38-40, 61:5, 79:15-26.
7-104 And Moses said: O Pharaoh, surely I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds,
وَقالَ موسىٰ يا فِرعَونُ إِنّي رَسولٌ مِن رَبِّ العالَمينَ (۱۰۴)
7-105 Worthy of not saying anything about Allah except the truth. I have come to you indeed with clear proof from your Lord, so let the Children of Israel go with me.a
حَقيقٌ عَلىٰ أَن لا أَقولَ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الحَقَّ ۚ قَد جِئتُكُم بِبَيِّنَةٍ مِن رَبِّكُم فَأَرسِل مَعِيَ بَني إِسرائيلَ (۱۰۵)
7-105a: حَقيقٌ – It is used here in the sense of جدیر (worthy, deserving, meriting).
عَلىٰ – It is used in the sense of ب meaning I am capable.
The real mission of Moses was not to preach to Pharaoh but to get the release of Bani Israel from bondage because Moses was ordained only for his own people, as is stated elsewhere: أَخرِج قَومَكَ مِنَ الظُّلُماتِ إِلَى النّورِ (Bring forth thy people from darkness into light) (14:5). For this reason, the first demand he made to Pharaoh was to allow Bani Israel to go with him. However, as it was required for him to interact with Pharaoh, it became necessary to advise him as well, which he did.
7-106 He said: If thou hast come with a sign, produce it, if thou art truthful.
قالَ إِن كُنتَ جِئتَ بِآيَةٍ فَأتِ بِها إِن كُنتَ مِنَ الصّادِقينَ (۱۰۶)
7-107 So he threw his rod, then lo! it was a serpent manifest.
فَأَلقىٰ عَصاهُ فَإِذا هِيَ ثُعبانٌ مُبينٌ (۱۰۷)
7-108 And he drew forth his hand, and lo! it was white to the beholders.a
وَنَزَعَ يَدَهُ فَإِذا هِيَ بَيضاءُ لِلنّاظِرينَ (۱۰۸)
7-108a: Both these miracles are reported in the Bible as well and both were performed twice as stated in both scriptures, once when Moses was conferred prophethood and second time in the presence of Pharaoh in their first meeting. However, in the Bible the miracle of the white hand is not reported as having been performed before Pharaoh and this is clearly because of alteration as there is a clear God’s command to Moses in Exodus 4:8, “And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.” In addition, there was no need of giving Moses a second miracle if it was not to be performed before Moses.
Under what circumstances did the first manifestation of the miracles of Moses take place: It is worth remembering that the manifestation of miracles generally takes place before the opponents of the truth and the purpose is to humble them. However, Moses is shown these miracles when he is alone in the presence of God and when he is in a state in which Allah communicates with prophets. As testified by a hadith in Bukhari, this is a special state in which the prophet hears and sees things that those sitting near him neither hear nor see. Accordingly, it is clear from the hadith that on occasions, the Holy Prophet would be sitting with his Companions when his condition would change, and he would enter the state in which revelation is received and the angel would come to communicate with him. The companions sitting next to the Holy Prophet however neither saw nor heard the angel, but the Holy Prophet saw and heard him. So, in this state when Moses was in communication with Allah, the manifestation of miracles was in a vision. It is true that the manifestation of these signs also took place before Pharaoh. However sometimes Allah with His supernatural powers allows others to participate in what is a visionary scene. This is what makes it a miracle. Otherwise, the staff of Moses did not possess the property of converting into a serpent whenever thrown on the ground. There is also no mention of such a transformation taking place even when confronted by an enemy except on these two occasions. It was an ordinary staff as described by Moses. He stated that sometimes he leans on it, sometimes he uses it to pull down leaves for his goats and he puts it to other miscellaneous uses as well. There is no authentic source that describes where that staff came from.
There is also another meaning of the staff becoming a serpent and the hand becoming white. The word عَصا has a secondary meaning of party for which see 2-60a. The first miracle was to show that the party of Moses would overcome their opponents and the second miracle of the white hand was an indication of the clear and convincing arguments of Moses. Accordingly, the drowning of Pharaoh and the conversion of the enchanters shows the actual reality fo these two miracles.
Bayan-ul-Quran 