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 tied to a time. خَتَمَ names an action — sealing, closing up — from the root ختم, to seal and conclude. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past tense verb describes an action already completed; its plain base form, with no suffix, is 'he' did it. خَتَمَ is that bare base: 'he sealed', that is, Allah has set a seal. L8 · R1
ٱللَّهُword 2
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea — including proper names. ٱللَّهُ is a proper name: the name of Allah, the One who does the sealing. 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 with no meaning standing alone; it takes no ending and does not name or act. عَلَىٰ is such a helper word here. L1 · R8
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another and pulls the noun after it into the genitive ending. عَلَىٰ means 'on' or 'upon', marking where the seal was set: upon their hearts. L4 · R1
قُلُوبِهِمْword 4
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. قُلُوب names things — 'hearts' — from the root قلب, the heart and its turning. L1 · R6
Feminine Noun · اسم مؤنثA feminine noun is a naming word Arabic treats as grammatically 'she'. قُلُوب shows no visible feminine mark such as a ة, yet Arabic treats it as feminine — one of the words simply known to be so. 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 naming word takes after a preposition, shown by a kasrah ـِ — a small slanted stroke below the letter. Because قُلُوب stands right after the preposition عَلَىٰ 'upon', it carries that kasrah ـِ: عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ. 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 · R7
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 عطفA conjunction is a particle like 'and' that joins items together. The prefix وَ means 'and', linking this next thing sealed to the hearts before it. L4 · R4
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word with no meaning standing alone; it takes no ending and does not name or act. عَلَىٰ here is such a helper word. L1 · R8
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another and pulls the noun after it into the genitive ending. عَلَىٰ means 'upon', marking a second place the seal was set: upon their hearing. L4 · R1
سَمْعِهِمْ ۖword 6
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. سَمْع names a thing — 'hearing' — from the root سمع, to hear. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every naming word as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. سَمْع carries no feminine marker such as a ة at its end, so it falls to the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Genitive · مجرورThe genitive is the ending a naming word takes after a preposition, shown by a kasrah ـِ — a small slanted stroke below the letter. Because سَمْع stands right after the preposition عَلَىٰ 'upon', it carries that kasrah ـِ: عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ. 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 · R7
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 وَ begins a fresh statement rather than adding a plain item. Here it opens a new statement — about a veil over their sight — after the sealing of the hearts and hearing. L14 · R1
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word with no meaning standing alone; it takes no ending and does not name or act. عَلَىٰٓ here is such a helper word. L1 · R8
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another and pulls the noun after it into the genitive ending. عَلَىٰٓ means 'over' or 'upon', marking where the veil lies: over their vision. L4 · R1
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. أَبْصَٰر names things — 'sights, vision' — from the root بصر, seeing and sight. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every naming word as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. أَبْصَٰر carries no feminine marker such as a ة at its end, so it falls to 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 naming word takes after a preposition, shown by a kasrah ـِ — a small slanted stroke below the letter. Because أَبْصَٰر stands right after the preposition عَلَىٰٓ 'over', it carries that kasrah ـِ: عَلَىٰٓ أَبْصَٰرِهِمْ. 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 · R7
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 at the end. غِشَٰوَة carries that round ة ending, so it is feminine: 'a veil'. L2 · R1
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'a' something — no particular one — and usually shows this with the doubled end-mark tanwīn. غِشَٰوَةٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ, the double ḍammah that adds an 'un' sound at the end, so it means '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 وَ begins a fresh statement rather than adding a plain item. Here it opens a new statement — about the punishment awaiting them — after the sealing and the veil. L14 · R1
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another. The prefix لَ means 'for'; joined to هُمْ 'them' it gives 'for them' — the ones for whom the punishment is set. L4 · R2
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. عَذَاب names a thing — 'punishment, torment' — from the root عذب, to punish and torment. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every naming word as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. عَذَاب carries no feminine marker such as a ة at its end, so it falls to the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'a' something — no particular one — and usually shows this with the doubled end-mark tanwīn. عَذَابٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ, the double ḍammah that adds an 'un' sound at the end, so it means '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 here is a describing word — Arabic counts describing words among its naming words. عَظِيم means 'great, mighty', from the root عظم, to be great and tremendous. L1 · R6
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun is general, not a particular one, shown by the doubled end-mark tanwīn. عَظِيمٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ, matching the indefinite word it describes: 'a great punishment'. 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.”