Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:22
And you were not covering yourselves, lest your hearing testify against you or your sight or your skins, but you assumed that Allah does not know much of what you do.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
( And you did not conceal yourselves ) in the life of this world ( lest there testify against you ) on the Day of Resurrection ( your hearing, nor your eyes, nor your skins ).
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His statement: ( And you did not conceal yourselves ). Some of them said: its meaning is: and you did not keep yourselves hidden.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ( And you did not conceal yourselves ): that is, you did not keep yourselves hidden from it.
And others said: its meaning is: and you did not guard yourselves.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( And you did not conceal yourselves ) he said: you did not guard yourselves.
And others said: no, rather its meaning is: and you did not suppose.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( And you did not conceal yourselves ) he says: and you did not suppose ( that there would testify against you your hearing, nor your eyes ) until he reached ( much of what ) you ( did ). And by Allah, truly over you, O son of Ādam, there are witnesses from your own body who are not suspect; so guard them and fear Allah in the concealment of your affair and in your openness, for nothing concealed remains hidden from Him — the darkness with Him is light, and the secret with Him is open. So whoever is able to die while holding a good opinion of Allah, let him do so — and there is no power except through Allah.
And the most correct of the statements concerning that is the statement of him who said: its meaning is: and you did not keep yourselves hidden, such that you would have refrained from committing the forbidden things of Allah in the life of this world out of fear that this day there would testify against you your hearing and your eyes.
And we have only said that this is the most correct of the statements concerning that because the well-known meaning of al-istitār (concealing oneself) is the act of hiding oneself.
And if someone were to say: and how can a person conceal himself from himself regarding what he does? Then it is said: we have already explained that its meaning is only the vain longings (amānī), and in refraining from committing it lies the concealment of it from himself.
And His statement: ( but you supposed that Allah does not know much of what ) you ( did ) The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: but you imagined, when you committed in the life of this world the acts of disobedience to Allah, that Allah did not know much of what you did of your evil deeds; therefore you did not conceal yourselves from the fact that there would testify against you your hearing, your eyes, and your skins, such that you would have refrained from committing what Allah forbade you.
And it has been mentioned that this verse was sent down on account of a group of men who disputed among themselves concerning Allah's knowledge of what they said and spoke in secret.
* Mention of the report concerning that.
Ibn Yaḥyā al-Qaṭʿī related to me, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Qays related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar al-Azdī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, he said: I was concealed behind the curtains of the Kaʿba, when three men entered — two Thaqīfites and a Qurashite, or two Qurashites and a Thaqīfite — whose bellies were full of fat and whose hearts were poor in understanding. They spoke words that I did not comprehend. One of them said: do you think that Allah hears what we say? The two men said: when we raise our voices, He hears, and when we do not raise them, He does not hear. Then I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned that to him, whereupon this verse was sent down: ( And you did not conceal yourselves lest there testify against you your hearing, nor your eyes )... to the end of the verse.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to me, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Wahb ibn Rabīʿa, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, he said: I was indeed concealed behind the curtains of the Kaʿba, when three men entered — a Thaqīfite and his two sons-in-law, both Qurashites — whose hearts were poor in understanding and whose bellies were full of fat. They held a conversation among themselves, and one of them said: do you think that Allah hears what we say? The other said: He hears it when we raise, and does not hear it when we lower. And the other said: if He hears anything of it, then He hears the whole of it. He said: then I came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and mentioned that to him, whereupon this verse was sent down: ( And you did not conceal yourselves lest there testify against you your hearing, nor your eyes )... until he reached And if they ask for reconciliation, then they are not among those to whom reconciliation is granted .
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Manṣūr related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Abū Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, in a similar manner.
