Surah Fussilat (41) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ {وَ قَالُوْا قُلُوْبُنَا فِيْۤ اَكِنَّةٍ …:’’ اَكِنَّةٍ ‘‘ ’’ كِنَانٌ ‘‘} is the plural of "كِنَانٌ", meaning veil, just as {’’ غِطَاءٌ‘‘} is the plural of {’’ أَغْطِيَةٌ ‘‘}. Quiver, that is, the bag of arrows in which arrows are hidden, is called { ’’ كِنَانَةٌ ‘‘ }. The original meaning of {’’ وَقْرٌ ‘‘} is "burden"; what is meant is deafness.

➋ It is said that the disinterest of the disbelievers in the signs of Allah has reached such an extent that not only do they not listen or turn away, but their aversion has reached the point that they have expressed it in clear words and have stated three reasons for it. The first is that the thing you are inviting us to, our hearts are protected by heavy veils from it. (The tanween of {اَكِنَّةٍ} is for emphasis) That invitation does not reach our hearts at all. The second is that there is a heavy burden in our ears. (The tanween of {وَقْرٌ} is for emphasis) Our ears are extremely deaf to your words, and the third is that there is a heavy veil between us and you. In short, our eyes, ears, or hearts are not ready to listen to or understand anything you say. The disbelievers stated this as a virtue of theirs. In Surah Al-Baqarah it is said: «وَ قَالُوْا قُلُوْبُنَا غُلْفٌ بَلْ لَّعَنَهُمُ اللّٰهُ بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَقَلِيْلًا مَّا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ » [ البقرۃ : ۸۸ ] "And they said, 'Our hearts are wrapped (in coverings),' but Allah has cursed them for their disbelief, so little is it that they believe."

➌ { وَ مِنْۢ بَيْنِنَا وَ بَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ:} Al-Biqa'i has derived the meaning of partition (denoting 'some') from this {’’ مِنْ‘‘}, that in some matters between us and you there is a veil, meaning that we see, hear, and understand each other's worldly matters, but in matters of religion there is a heavy veil between us and you, so you act upon your religion and we are those who act upon our religion.

➍ Elsewhere it is said that these veils over their hearts, eyes, and ears have been placed by Us, and the reason for this is their own turning away and avoidance, as He said: « وَ مَنْ اَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ ذُكِّرَ بِاٰيٰتِ رَبِّهٖ فَاَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا وَ نَسِيَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدٰهُ اِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلٰى قُلُوْبِهِمْ اَكِنَّةً اَنْ يَّفْقَهُوْهُ وَ فِيْۤ اٰذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا وَ اِنْ تَدْعُهُمْ اِلَى الْهُدٰى فَلَنْ يَّهْتَدُوْۤا اِذًا اَبَدًا » [ الکہف : ۵۷ ] "And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord, then he turns away from them and forgets what his hands have sent ahead? Indeed, We have placed veils over their hearts, lest they understand it, and deafness in their ears. And if you call them to guidance, they will never be guided, ever." And this is the way of Allah regarding those who persist in opposition and stubbornness, He said: « وَ مَنْ يُّشَاقِقِ الرَّسُوْلَ مِنْۢ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدٰى وَ يَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيْلِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ نُوَلِّهٖ مَا تَوَلّٰى وَ نُصْلِهٖ جَهَنَّمَ وَ سَآءَتْ مَصِيْرًا» [ النساء : ۱۱۵ ] "And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers, We will turn him to what he has turned to and burn him in Hell—and evil it is as a destination." And He said: « فَلَمَّا زَاغُوْۤا اَزَاغَ اللّٰهُ قُلُوْبَهُمْ» [ الصف : ۵ ] "So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate."

➎ {فَاعْمَلْ اِنَّنَا عٰمِلُوْنَ:} Repeated invitation and admonition gives hope that perhaps at some time it may have an effect, so the disbelievers said this sentence to completely disappoint the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), just as Allah Almighty commanded the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to say to the disbelievers {’’ لَكُمْ دِيْنُكُمْ وَ لِيَ دِيْنِ ‘‘} ("For you is your religion, and for me is my religion") to completely disappoint them that he could ever worship their gods in any way. (See Al-Kafirun: 6)

5. 1 Akinnah is the plural of Kinan. Veil. That is, our hearts are veiled from understanding your call to monotheism and faith.
5. 2 The original meaning of وَقْر is burden; here it means deafness, which was a hindrance to hearing the truth.
5. 3 That is, there is such a veil between us and you that we cannot hear what you say, nor can we see what you do. Therefore, leave us to our state and we will leave you to your state; you do not act upon our religion, and we cannot act upon your religion.

5. And they say, "Our hearts are veiled from that to which you call us, our ears are deaf to it, and between us and you is a barrier [3]. So do your work, and we will do ours [4]."

[3] Despite these various excellences of the Quran, most people have resorted to opposing it; far from accepting its verses, they do not even tolerate listening to them. Then they even take pride in this trait of theirs and say that its teachings can have absolutely no effect on our hearts. Our hearts are completely protected from accepting such effects. In fact, we cannot even tolerate listening to these verses. Our ears have become weary of hearing such things. Therefore, they do not even bother to listen and say: O Muhammad ﷺ! A wall of enmity has now come between us and you because of your call, and this call has created a separation between us and you. Therefore, we are not prepared to accept your call at any cost.

[4] This sentence has two meanings: one is that now we have nothing to do with you, nor do you have anything to do with us, and we can never sit together; and the second meaning is that if you do not desist from your call, then keep doing your work. We too will never desist from opposing you. From this sentence, it is evident that despite the opponents’ persecutions and hostile activities, the progress of the call of Islam had reached such a stage that the opponents were compelled to converse on an equal footing.