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wa-qālū qulūbunā fī ʾakinnatin mimmā tadʿūnā ʾilayhi wa-fī ʾādhāninā waqrun wa-min bayninā wa-baynika ḥijābun fa-ʿmal ʾinnanā ʿāmilūna
They say, ‘Our hearts are in veils [which shut them off] from what you invite us to, and there is a deafness in our ears, and there is a curtain between us and you. So act [as your faith requires]; we too are acting [according to our own].’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Fussilat - Verse 5
5. And they say: “Our hearts are wrapped up in coverings from that to which you invite us and in our ears is deafness and between us and you is a screen: so work you [on your way]. Indeed, we are working [on our way].”
The Arabic word akinna is the plural form of kinan which indicates a piece of fabric in which something is wrapped up. The word waqr indicates deafness.3 Disbelievers rigorously took a fivefold stance against the Messenger of God (S) and the Holy Qur’an:
1. Turning away and keeping distance against them:
2. Unpreparedness for acknowledging the Truth:
3. Failing to listen to the Messages:
4. Making mention of impediments, namely the covering of self-conceit, worshipping mammon, and the like.
5. Persisting obdurately in their error
God Almighty bestows His Bounties upon man and sends down His Revelation springing from His Fountainhead of Mercy, but disbelievers are obdurate and turn away from Truth. If the audience be not prepared, neither Divine Revelation and Mercy nor Scriptures nor its glad tidings and warnings shall be of no avail, since obduracy and bias cast their veils onto their hearts. It is in this vein that the blessed Verse says that when disbelievers noticed that they had sunk into shadows as if they failed to hear Qur’anic Verses, they said that their hearts had been wrapped up in natural covering and they were deaf such that they were unable to hear Qur’anic Verses.
In other words, they said that there had been a veil of ignorance and arrogance between them and God Almighty such that the Messenger of God (S) could not expect them to turn to Qur’anic Verses and each of the parties was supposed to be preoccupied with their own affairs.
Footnotes