حم
Hā. Mīm. (1)
تَنْزِيلٌ مِنَ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
THE BESTOWAL from on high [of this revelation] issues from the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace: (2)
كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ
a divine writ, the messages whereof have been clearly spelled out as a discourse in the Arabic tongue for people of [innate] knowledge, (3)
بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا فَأَعْرَضَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ
to be a herald of glad tidings as well as a warning. And yet, [whenever this divine writ is offered to men,] most of them turn away, so that they cannot hear [its message]; (4)
وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِمَّا تَدْعُونَا إِلَيْهِ وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ وَمِنْ بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ فَاعْمَلْ إِنَّنَا عَامِلُونَ
and so they say, [as it were:] "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier. Do, then, [whatever thou wilt, whereas,] behold, we shall do [as we have always done]!" (5)
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا إِلَيْهِ وَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ وَوَيْلٌ لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ
Say thou, [O Prophet:] "I am but a mortal like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is the One God: go, then, straight towards Him and seek His forgiveness!" And woe unto those who ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, (6)
الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ
[and] those who do not spend in charity: for it is they, they who [thus] deny the truth of the life to come! (7)
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ
[But,] verily, they who have attained to faith and do good works shall have a reward unending! (8)
- and so they say, [as it were:] "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier.4 Do, then, [whatever thou wilt, whereas,] behold, we shall do [as we have always done]!"
- 4 For this rendering of the term hijab, see note 36 on the first sentence of 7:46. See also 6:25. The "saying" of those who turn away from the message of the Qur'an is, of course, figurative, describing only their attitude.
- They say: "Our hearts are4465 under veils, (concealed) from that to which thou dost invite us, and in our ears in a deafness, and between us and thee is a screen: so do4466 thou (what thou wilt); for us, we shall do (what we will!)"
- 4465 The consequence of their wilful rejection is that a distance is created between Revelation and those for whom it is meant; their ears become deaf, so that the voice falls fainter and fainter on their ears: they feel a bar between themselves and the Messenger who comes to teach them (Cf. 6:25).
- 4466 This is either a superiority complex adopting the sarcastic tone of an inferiority complex, or it expresses calculated indifference to spiritual teaching. In effect it says: "Our hearts and minds are not intelligent enough to understand your noble ideas, nor our ears sufficiently acute to hear their exposition: you and we are quite different; there is a gulf between us. Why worry about us? You go your way, and we shall go ours!"
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They say: "Our hearts are under veils, (concealed) from that to which thou dost invite us, and in our ears in a deafness, and between us and thee is a screen: so do thou (what thou wilt); for us, we shall do (what we will!)"
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And they say: Our hearts are protected from that unto which thou (O Muhammad) callest us, and in our ears there is a deafness, and between us and thee there is a veil. Act, then. Lo! we also shall be acting.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And they say: Our hearts are under coverings from that to which you call us, and there is a heaviness in our ears, and a veil hangs between us and you, so work, we too are working.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And they say: "Our hearts are under coverings (screened) 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); verily, we are working (on our way)."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And they say: our hearts are under veils from that whereUnto thou callest us, and in our ears there is heaviness, and betwixt us and thee there is a curtain; work thou then, verily we are Workers.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
They say: 'Our hearts are veiled from that to which you call us, and in our ears there is heaviness. And between us and you is a veil. So work (as you will) and we are working. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And they say, `our hearts are under coverings against that thou callest us to, and in our ears is heaviness, and between us and thee is a veil; so act, we are also acting!'
— Ayub Khan -
And they say, 'Our hearts are secure under coverings against that which thou callest us, and in our ears there is a heaviness, and between us and thee is a veil. So carry on thy work; we, too, are working.'
— Sher Ali -
and so they say, [as it were:] "Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier. Do, then, [whatever thou wilt, whereas,] behold, we shall do [as we have always done]!"
— Muhammad Asad -
They say, Our hearts are veiled from what thou callest us to, and in our ears is a heaviness, and between us and thee there is a veil; so act; we are acting!
— Arthur Arberry -
They say: "Our hearts are securely wrapped up against what you call us to,{{2}} and in our ears is a heaviness, and between you and us there is a veil.{{3}} So act; we too are acting."{{4}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi