Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

101. “These are the towns some of whose tidings We recount unto you; and certainly their Messengers came to them with manifest proofs, but they would not believe in what they had belied from before. Thus does Allah set a seal on the hearts of the infidels.”

In this verse, as well as the next one, the emphasis is again on the lessons which can be taken from the explanation of the former people’s events. But, here, the addressee is the Prophet (S), although the objective is indeed all human beings.

At first, it says:

“These are the towns some of whose tidings We recount unto you...”

Then, the verse implies that it was not such that they became unnihilated without completing the argument, but surely their divine prophets went to them with clear evidences and those prophets tried their utmost effort to guide them. The holy verse continues saying:

“…and certainly their Messengers came to them with manifest proofs…”

But they steadily showed opposition against the continuous preaches and repeated invitations of their prophets and persisted on their own saying. They were not ready to accept and believe in that which they had belied before. Here is what the verse says:

“…but they would not believe in what they had belied from before…”

The cause of this obstinacy has been stated in the next sentence of the holy verse, as follows:

“…Thus does Allah set a seal on the hearts of the infidels.”

That is, those who step in the path of wrong, as a result of repetition and continuation of action, some corruptions such as perversion, infidelity, and impurity settle in their hearts so deeply that they remain fixed therein like the curvings upon a coin. This is from the kind of effect and property of action which has been attributed to Allah, since it is He Who is the Cause of all causes.