﴿ وَلَوْ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًۭا لَّأَسْمَعَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوا۟ وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ ﴾

“For, if God had seen any good in them, He would certainly have made them hear: but [as it is,] even if He had made them hear, they would surely have turned away in their obstinacy.”

For had God known of any good in them, or any righteousness, that is, any preparedness to receive the perfection of their hearing, so that they might then understand, accept and be obedient [He would have made them hear]; and had He made them hear, despite the absence of any good in them, so that they came to understand, their understanding would [even then] have no effect in terms of [subsequent] volition and obedience, nay, they would have turned away quickly, since that understanding in them would be an accidental matter, something that would be quick to disappear, and not essential [in them]; being averse, in their essence, such that understanding and volition would not remain in them long, as the Commander of the Believers [ʿAlī], may God be satisfied with him, said, 'Seek wisdom, even if it should be from the hypocrites, for wisdom keeps faltering in the breast of the hypocrite until it comes to rest alongside its companions in the breast of the believer'. In other words, it [wisdom] cannot fix itself in his [the hypocrite's] breast since here it is accidental and does not correspond with his essence.