Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:5
And they say, "Our hearts are within coverings from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition, so work; indeed, we are working."
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِمَّا تَدْعُونَا إِلَيْهِ وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ وَمِنْ بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ فَاعْمَلْ إِنَّنَا عَامِلُونَ (And they said: "Our hearts are encased against that to which you call us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition; so act, indeed we too are acting") (41:5).
The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And these polytheists (mushrikīn), who turn away from the signs of Allah, from the polytheists of Quraysh, said — when Muḥammad, the prophet of Allah, called them to the acknowledgment of the oneness of Allah and the affirmation of what is in this Qurʾān of the command and prohibition of Allah and the remaining matters that have been sent down in it: ( قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ ) (Our hearts are encased). He says: in coverings, ( مِمَّا تَدْعُونَا ) (against that to which you call us), O Muḥammad, ( إِلَيْهِ ) (to it) — of the oneness of Allah and our believing you concerning that with which you have come to us; we do not understand what you say. ( وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ ) (and in our ears is deafness), and that is the heaviness; we do not hear that to which you call us, out of heaviness toward that to which he calls and out of aversion to it. And the explanation of the meanings of these words has already been given previously, with the evidences for it, and with the mention of what the exegetes have said about it, so we have preferred not to repeat that in this place.
And indeed: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Waraqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his statement: ( قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ ) (Our hearts are encased). He said: Over them are coverings, like the quiver for the arrows.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his statement: ( وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ ) (And they said: Our hearts are encased). He said: Over them are coverings. ( وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ ) (and in our ears is deafness). He said: deafness.
And His statement: ( وَمِنْ بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ ) (and between us and you is a partition). They say: and between us and you, O Muḥammad, is a covering that prevents us and you from coming together, so that we might see one another. And that partition (ḥijāb) is their difference in religion, because their religion was the worship of the idols, and the religion of Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the worship of Allah alone, without partner to Him. That, then, is the partition which they claimed was between them and the prophet of Allah, and that is the difference of some of them with others in religion.
And the word "min" was inserted into His statement ( وَمِنْ بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ ) (and between us and you is a partition), while the meaning is: "and between us and you is a partition", as a reinforcement of the word.
