Allah states that the idolators swore their strongest oaths by Allah,
﴿لَئِن جَآءَتْهُمْ ءَايَةٌ﴾
(that if there came to them a sign...) a miracle or phenomenon,
﴿لَّيُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهَا﴾
(they would surely believe therein.) affirming its truth,
﴿قُلْ إِنَّمَا الاٌّيَـتُ عِندَ اللَّهِ﴾
(Say: "Signs are but with Allah.'') ﴿6:109﴾ meaning: Say, O Muhammad - to those who ask you for signs out of defiance, disbelief and rebellion, not out of the desire for guidance and knowledge - "The matter of sending signs is for Allah. If He wills, He sends them to you, and if He wills, He ignores your request.'' Allah said next,
﴿وَمَا يُشْعِرُكُمْ أَنَّهَآ إِذَا جَآءَتْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ﴾
(And what will make you perceive that (even) if it came, they will not believe) It was said that `you' in `make you preceive' refers to the idolators, according to Mujahid. In this case, the Ayah would mean, what makes you -- you idolators -- preceive that you are truthful in the vows that you swore Therefore, in this recitation, the Ayah means, the idolators will still not believe if the sign that they asked for came. It was also said that `you' in, `what will make you preceive', refers to the believers, meaning, what will make you preceive, O believers, that the idolators will still not believe if the signs come. Allah also said,
﴿مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلاَّ تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ﴾
("What prevented you (O Iblis) that you did not prostrate, when I commanded you'') ﴿7:12﴾ and,
﴿وَحَرَامٌ عَلَى قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَآ أَنَّهُمْ لاَ يَرْجِعُونَ ﴾
(And a ban is laid on every town (population) which We have destroyed that they shall not return (to this world again).) ﴿21:95﴾ These Ayat mean: `What made you, O Iblis, refrain from prostrating, although I commanded you to do so, and, in the second Ayah, that village shall not return to this world again. In the Ayah above ﴿6:109﴾, the meaning thus becomes: What makes you perceive, O believers, who wish eagerly for the disbelievers to believe, that if the Ayat came to them they would believe Allah said next,
﴿وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَـرَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ﴾
(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, as they refused to believe therein for the first time,) Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas said about this Ayah, "When the idolators rejected what Allah sent down, their hearts did not settle on any one thing and they turned away from every matter (of benefit).'' Mujahid said that Allah's statement,
﴿وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَـرَهُمْ﴾
(and We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, ) means, We prevent them from the faith, and even if every sign came to them, they will not believe, just as We prevented them from faith the first time. Similar was said by `Ikrimah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "Allah mentions what the servants will say before they say it and what they will do before they do it. Allah said;
﴿وَلاَ يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ﴾
(And none can inform you like Him Who is the All-Knower.) ﴿35:14﴾ and,
﴿أَن تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ يحَسْرَتَى عَلَى مَا فَرَّطَتُ فِى جَنبِ اللَّهِ﴾
(Lest a person should say, "Alas, my grief that I was undutiful to Allah.'') ﴿39:56﴾ until,
﴿لَوْ أَنَّ لِى كَـرَّةً فَأَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾
("If only I had another chance, then I should indeed be among the doers of good.'') ﴿39:58﴾. So Allah, glory be to Him, states that if they were sent back to life, they would not accept the guidance,
﴿وَلَوْ رُدُّواْ لَعَـدُواْ لِمَا نُهُواْ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ﴾
(But if they were returned, they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.) ﴿6:28﴾ Allah said,
﴿وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَـرَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ﴾
(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time,) meaning: `If they were sent back to this life, they would be prevented from embracing the guidance, just as We prevented them from it the first time, when they were in the life of this world.'' Allah said,
﴿وَنَذَرُهُمْ﴾
(and We shall leave them...) and abandon them,
﴿فِي طُغْيَـنِهِمْ﴾
(in their trespass...) meaning, disbelief, according to Ibn `Abbas and As-Suddi. Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Qatadah said that `their trespass' means, `their misguidance'. m
﴿يَعْمَهُونَ﴾
(to wander blindly) or playfully, according to Al-A`mash. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi`, Abu Malik and others commented, "to wander in their disbelief.''
﴿وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ قُبُلاً مَّا كَانُواْ لِيُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَجْهَلُونَ ﴾
(111. And even if We had sent down unto them angels, and the dead had spoken unto them, and We had gathered together all things before them, they would not have believed, unless Allah willed, but most of them behave ignorantly.) Allah says: `Had We accepted what the disbelievers asked for,' that is -- those who swore their strongest oaths by Allah that if a miracle came to them they would believe in it -- `had We sent down angels, ' to convey to them Allah's Message, in order to support the truth of the Messengers, as they asked, when they said,
﴿أَوْ تَأْتِىَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةِ قَبِيلاً﴾
(or you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face.) ﴿17:92﴾
﴿قَالُواْ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ حَتَّى نُؤْتَى مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ رُسُلُ اللَّهِ﴾
(They said: "We shall not believe until we receive the like of that which the Messengers of Allah had received.'') ﴿6:124﴾ and,
﴿وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَرْجُونَ لِقَآءَنَا لَوْلاَ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْمَلَـئِكَةُ أَوْ نَرَى رَبَّنَا لَقَدِ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ فِى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَعَتَوْا عُتُوّاً كَبِيراً ﴾
(And those who expect not a meeting with Us said: "Why are not the angels sent down to us, or why do we not see our Lord" Indeed they think too highly of themselves, and are scornful with great pride.) ﴿25:21﴾ Allah said,
﴿وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى﴾
(and the dead had spoken unto them,) This is, to inform them of the truth of what the Messengers brought them;
﴿وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ قُبُلاً﴾
(and We had gathered together all things before them,) before their eyes, as `Ali bin Abi Talhah and Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas. This is the view of Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. This Ayah means, if all nations were gathered before them, one after the other, and each one testifies to the truth of what the Messengers came with,
﴿مَّا كَانُواْ لِيُؤْمِنُواْ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ﴾
(they would not have believed, unless Allah willed,) for guidance is with Allah not with them. Certainly, Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills, and He does what He wills,
﴿لاَ يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْـَلُونَ ﴾
(He cannot be questioned about what He does, while they will be questioned.) ﴿21:23﴾, This is due to His knowledge, wisdom, power, supreme authority and irresistibility. Similarly, Allah said,
﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ ﴾
(Truly, those, against whom the Word (wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) ﴿10:96-97﴾
﴿وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نِبِىٍّ عَدُوّاً شَيَـطِينَ الإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ - وَلِتَصْغَى إِلَيْهِ أَفْئِدَةُ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالاٌّخِرَةِ وَلِيَرْضَوْهُ وَلِيَقْتَرِفُواْ مَا هُم مُّقْتَرِفُونَ ﴾
(112. And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies -- Shayatin among mankind and Jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion. If your Lord had so willed, they would not have done it; so leave them alone with their fabrications.) (113. And Tasgha to it that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to such (deceit), and that they may remain pleased with it, and that they may commit what they are committing.)