Revelations Well Expounded (Fussilat)
Verses 1-5 GROUP_1252 41.1-5
1
حم
Ha Mim
2
تَنزِيلٌ مِّنَ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
A revelation from [God], the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful—
3
كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ
a Book whose revelations are well expounded, an Arabic Quran for people who possess knowledge,
4
بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا فَأَعْرَضَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ
proclaiming good news and a warning. Yet most of them turn away and so do not listen.
5
وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَا إِلَيْهِ وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ وَمِن بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ فَاعْمَلْ إِنَّنَا عَامِلُونَ
And they say, ‘Our hearts are encased against that to which you call us, and there is a heaviness in our ears, and there is a barrier between us, so do as you will and so shall we.’
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Commentary
(a) The call of a prophet is the pure call of religion. However, people mostly follow the religion of their forebears. Their thinking is dominated by their national traditions and contemporary mores. For this reason, the prophet’s unadulterated religion does not fit the pattern or mould of their thought. He appears a stranger to them. This difference acts as a mental barrier between the prophet and the common people. Unable to see the prophet’s call in its proper perspective, they are not prepared to accept it. The prophet’s call is in itself extremely rational. It is in itself a proof that it has come from God. But the aforesaid mental barrier proves so impregnable that a man is unable to penetrate it in order to grasp the meaning of the prophet’s call. Thus God opens the doors of His Grace to man, but he does not pass through them.