Allāh has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. And for them is a great punishment.
Sahih International
Grammar, phrase by phrase
خَتَمَ ٱللَّهُ
(Allāh has set a seal)
Root ختم — to seal, close up, conclude · 8 times in the Quran
Root اله — god · 2,851 times in the Quran
خَتَمَword 1
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action or happening that is always tied to a time — past, present/future, or a command. خَتَمَ speaks of an action already carried out: 'Has set a seal', from the root ختم: to seal, close up, conclude. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past-tense verb describes an action already completed. Its plain base shape — the shape Arabic uses for a single 'he' — carries no who-ending glued to its tail, and خَتَمَ is exactly that bare base: 'Has set a seal', from the root ختم: to seal, close up, conclude. L8 · R1
ٱللَّهُword 2
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea — and in Arabic this includes proper names. ٱللَّهُ is a proper name: 'Allah'. L1 · R6
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes when it is the one doing the action, shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the final letter. ٱللَّهُ ends in that ḍammah ـُ, marking it as the doer of the sealing. L2 · R10
Doer (Fa'il) · فاعلThe doer is the one performing the action in a verb-first sentence, and it takes the nominative ending. The verb خَتَمَ 'sealed' came first; ٱللَّهُ is the one who does it — 'Allah has set a seal'. L9 · R2
Sealing here means Allah stamped and closed their hearts as a punishment for their disbelief — sin resides in the heart and surrounds it until it is submerged, and this becomes a seal.
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:7
عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ
(…upon their hearts)
Root قلب — heart; to turn, overturn, return · 168 times in the Quran
عَلَىٰword 3
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word of one to three letters that works like glue — it connects or adjusts other words rather than naming something or describing an action, and it can never be the one a sentence is about. عَلَىٰ · 'on/upon' is such a helper. L1 · R9
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another; Arabic keeps a short list of them — small words like فِي 'in', مِنْ 'from', and عَلَىٰ 'on'. عَلَىٰ · 'on/upon' is one of these relation-words. L4 · R2
قُلُوبِهِمْword 4
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. قُلُوبِ names such a thing: 'their hearts', from the root قلب: heart; to turn, overturn, return. L1 · R6
Feminine Noun · اسم مؤنثA feminine noun is a naming word Arabic treats as grammatically 'she'. قُلُوبِ is a plural built by reshaping its word from the inside rather than by adding an ending, and it wears no feminine marker — no ة at its end, no final ى, no اء — yet Arabic treats it as feminine: 'their hearts'. L2 · R2
Plural Noun · جمعA plural noun refers to three or more, and one way to make it is by reshaping the word from the inside — a 'broken' plural. قُلُوب is the broken plural of قَلْب 'heart', reshaped from within to mean 'hearts'. L2 · R6
Genitive · مجرورThe genitive is the ending a noun (a naming word) takes after a preposition — a little word like 'in' or 'to' — and it is marked by a kasrah ـِ, a small slanted stroke written below the letter. قُلُوبِ stands right after such a little word and carries exactly that kasrah ـِ on its own final letter — tucked inside قُلُوبِهِمْ, just before the small piece fastened to the word's end. L2 · R12
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'their' glued onto the end of another word. The ending هِمْ on قُلُوبِهِمْ is such a suffix, meaning 'their', so the word reads 'their hearts'. L3 · R6
Possessive (Idafa) · مضاف إليهA possessive chain joins two words into an 'of' phrase, and the second, the owner, takes the genitive. Here the attached هِمْ 'their' fills that owner slot on قُلُوب 'hearts' — 'the hearts of them', that is, 'their hearts'. L5 · R5
وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ ۖ
(…and upon their hearing,)
Root سمع — to hear · 185 times in the Quran
وَعَلَىٰword 5
Conjunction · حرف عطفThe prefix وَ at the front of وَعَلَىٰ is a conjunction — a small joining word meaning 'and' — linking what follows to what came before; the word it joins in must stand in the same grammatical case as its partner before the joint — the same role in the sentence, even when the two words write that case with different endings. L4 · R4
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word of one to three letters that works like glue — it connects or adjusts other words rather than naming something or describing an action, and it can never be the one a sentence is about. عَلَىٰ · 'on/upon' is such a helper. L1 · R9
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another; Arabic keeps a short list of them — small words like فِي 'in', مِنْ 'from', and عَلَىٰ 'on'. عَلَىٰ · 'on/upon' is one of these relation-words. L4 · R2
سَمْعِهِمْ ۖword 6
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. سَمْعِ names such a thing: 'their hearing', from the root سمع: to hear. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every noun — every naming word — as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. سَمْعِهِمْ carries no feminine marker — no ة at its end, no final ى, no اء — so it takes the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Genitive · مجرورThe genitive is the ending a noun (a naming word) takes after a preposition — a little word like 'in' or 'to' — and it is marked by a kasrah ـِ, a small slanted stroke written below the letter. سَمْعِ stands right after such a little word and carries exactly that kasrah ـِ on its own final letter — tucked inside سَمْعِهِمْ, just before the small piece fastened to the word's end. L2 · R12
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'their' glued onto the end of another word. The ending هِمْ on سَمْعِهِمْ is such a suffix, meaning 'their', so the word reads 'their hearing'. L3 · R6
Possessive (Idafa) · مضاف إليهA possessive chain joins two words into an 'of' phrase, and the second, the owner, takes the genitive. Here the attached هِمْ 'their' fills that owner slot on سَمْع 'hearing' — 'the hearing of them', that is, 'their hearing'. L5 · R5
So that they can neither see the guidance nor hear, comprehend, or understand it; the seal is placed on the heart and on the hearing.
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:7
So far: “Allāh has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing,”
وَعَلَىٰٓ أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ
(…and over their vision)
Root بصر — to see, sight, vision, insight · 148 times in the Quran
وَعَلَىٰٓword 7
Resumptive Particle · حرف استئنافA resumptive particle is a وَ or فَ that begins a fresh statement after a pause or a shift of topic — it starts the speech anew rather than adding one more item to a list. The prefix وَ · 'and' at the front of وَعَلَىٰٓ opens such a fresh start. L14 · R1
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word of one to three letters that works like glue — it connects or adjusts other words rather than naming something or describing an action, and it can never be the one a sentence is about. عَلَىٰٓ · 'on/upon' is such a helper. L1 · R9
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another; Arabic keeps a short list of them — small words like فِي 'in', مِنْ 'from', and عَلَىٰ 'on'. عَلَىٰٓ · 'on/upon' is one of these relation-words. L4 · R2
Predicate (Khabar) · خبرThe predicate tells you something about the topic and can be a preposition-and-noun phrase placed before that topic. The phrase 'over their vision' comes first, and the topic 'a veil' follows — 'over their vision is a veil' — so this phrase is what is said about the veil. L6 · R4
أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْword 8
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. أَبْصَٰرِ names such a thing: 'their vision', from the root بصر: to see, sight, vision, insight. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every noun — every naming word — as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ carries no feminine marker — no ة at its end, no final ى, no اء — so it takes the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Plural Noun · جمعA plural noun refers to three or more, and one way to make it is by reshaping the word from the inside — a 'broken' plural. أَبْصَٰر is the broken plural of بَصَر 'sight', reshaped from within to mean 'sights, vision'. L2 · R6
Genitive · مجرورThe genitive is the ending a noun (a naming word) takes after a preposition — a little word like 'in' or 'to' — and it is marked by a kasrah ـِ, a small slanted stroke written below the letter. أَبْصَٰرِ stands right after such a little word and carries exactly that kasrah ـِ on its own final letter — tucked inside أَبْصَـٰرِهِمْ, just before the small piece fastened to the word's end. L2 · R12
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'their' glued onto the end of another word. The ending هِمْ on أَبْصَٰرِهِمْ is such a suffix, meaning 'their', so the word reads 'their vision'. L3 · R6
Possessive (Idafa) · مضاف إليهA possessive chain joins two words into an 'of' phrase, and the second, the owner, takes the genitive. Here the attached هِمْ 'their' fills that owner slot on أَبْصَٰر 'vision' — 'the vision of them', that is, 'their vision'. L5 · R5
غِشَـٰوَةٌۭ ۖ
(…is a veil.)
Root غشو — to cover, conceal · 29 times in the Quran
غِشَـٰوَةٌۭ ۖword 9
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. غِشَٰوَة names a thing — 'a veil, a covering' — from the root غشو, to cover and conceal. L1 · R6
Feminine Noun · اسم مؤنثA feminine noun is a naming word Arabic treats as grammatically 'she', most often marked by a ة — the round 'tied tā' — at its end. غِشَٰوَةٌ carries exactly that round ة at its end, so it is treated as feminine: '(is) a veil'. L2 · R1
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'a' or 'any' one of something — no particular one — and it never wears the definite article ال ('the'); instead it shows this with tanwīn, a doubled end-vowel mark. غِشَٰوَةٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ — the ḍammah ـُ doubled — marking it as unspecified: '(is) a veil'. L2 · R8
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes when it is the main topic, and its indefinite form is the tanwīn ḍammah ـٌ. غِشَٰوَةٌ ends in that ـٌ, marking it as the topic the sentence tells about — the veil that lies over their vision. L2 · R10
Subject (Mubtada') · مبتدأThe subject is the noun the sentence talks about, in the nominative role. Though it comes after its predicate here, غِشَٰوَةٌ 'a veil' is that topic — 'over their vision is a veil' — carrying its nominative ـٌ. L6 · R2
A covering is placed on their eyes, so that they do not see; the veil is set upon the sight, while the seal is set upon the heart and the hearing.
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:7
So far: “Allāh has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil.”
وَلَهُمْ
(And for them)
وَلَهُمْword 10
Resumptive Particle · حرف استئنافA resumptive particle is a وَ or فَ that begins a fresh statement after a pause or a shift of topic — it starts the speech anew rather than adding one more item to a list. The prefix وَ · 'and' at the front of وَلَهُمْ opens such a fresh start. L14 · R1
Preposition · حرف جرThe small prefix لَ at the front of وَلَهُمْ is a preposition — a little helper word meaning 'to/for' that relates one thing to another. A preposition 'pulls' the word that follows it into the genitive relationship — the 'of / in / with' role a word plays after such a little helper — though not every word shows that role with the same visible ending. L4 · R1
Detached Pronoun · ضمير منفصلA detached pronoun is a standalone word for 'they', 'you', 'I', and the like. هُمْ is 'them' here, joined after the preposition لَ to say 'for them'. L3 · R2
عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌۭ
(…is a great punishment.)
Root عذب — to punish, torture; punishment, torment · 373 times in the Quran
Root عظم — to be great, mighty, tremendous; bones · 128 times in the Quran
عَذَابٌword 11
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. عَذَابٌ names such a thing: '(is) a punishment', from the root عذب: to punish, torture; punishment, torment. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every noun — every naming word — as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. عَذَابٌ carries no feminine marker — no ة at its end, no final ى, no اء — so it takes the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'a' or 'any' one of something — no particular one — and it never wears the definite article ال ('the'); instead it shows this with tanwīn, a doubled end-vowel mark. عَذَابٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ — the ḍammah ـُ doubled — marking it as unspecified: '(is) a punishment'. L2 · R8
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes when it is the main topic, and its indefinite form is the tanwīn ḍammah ـٌ. عَذَابٌ ends in that ـٌ, marking it as the topic — the punishment that is 'for them'. L2 · R10
Subject (Mubtada') · مبتدأThe subject is the noun the sentence talks about, in the nominative role. Here the phrase 'for them' comes first and عَذَابٌ 'a punishment' is the topic that follows — 'for them is a punishment' — carrying its nominative ـٌ. L6 · R2
عَظِيمٌۭword 12
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. عَظِيمٌ names such a thing: 'great', from the root عظم: to be great, mighty, tremendous; bones. L1 · R6
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun is a naming word left general — not pinned to one known thing by the definite article ال ('the') — and it shows this with tanwīn, a doubled end-vowel mark. عَظِيمٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ — the ḍammah ـُ doubled: 'great'. L2 · R8
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is shown by a ḍammah, in its doubled indefinite form the tanwīn ـٌ. عَظِيمٌ ends in that ـٌ, copying the ending of عَذَابٌ, the word it describes. L2 · R10
Adjective · صفةAn adjective is a describing word that comes after its noun and matches it in gender, number, ending, and 'the'-ness. عَظِيمٌ follows عَذَابٌ and matches it — both masculine, both indefinite with the tanwīn ـٌ — describing the punishment as great. L7 · R1
So far: “Allāh has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. And for them is a great punishment.”