And among them are those who listen to you,300 but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. Even when they come to you arguing with you, those who disbelieve say, "This is not but legends of the former peoples."
Verse 25 of Surah Al-An’am (6:25), a Meccan surah, is in juz 7, on page 130 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 74 reciters.
Listen to verse 25 of Surah Al-An’am
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Tafsir of verse 25
Al-Mukhtasar
Some of the idolaters listen to you, O Messenger, when you recite the Qur’ān, but they do not benefit from what they hear because I have placed covers on their hearts so that they cannot understand the Qur’ān. I did this due to their stubbornness and their turning away. I have made their ears deaf to beneficial listening. Despite the clear indications and glaring evidences that they see, they still do not believe, such that when they come to you they present false arguments against the truth and say: What you have brought has simply been taken from the books of the earlier people.
There are some among them who listen to you7, but We have placed covers on their hearts so that they do not understand it, and deafness in their ears. Even if they were to see every sign, they would still not believe in them. When they come to you arguing, the disbelievers say, “This is nothing but ancient fables.”
Notes
[7] When you recite the Qur’an.
And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; and even if they see every one of the Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) they will not believe therein; to the point that when they come to you to argue with you, the disbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old."
Of them are some who listen unto thee, but We have placed upon their hearts veils, lest they should understand, and in their ears a deafness. If they saw every token they would not believe therein; to the point that, when they come unto thee to argue with thee, the disbelievers say: This is naught else than fables of the men of old.
Of them there are some who (pretend to) listen to thee; but We have thrown veils on their hearts, So they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they saw every one of the signs, not they will believe in them; in so much that when they come to thee, they (but) dispute with thee; the Unbelievers say: "These are nothing but tales of the ancients."
And of them is he who hearkens to you, and We have cast veils over their hearts lest they understand it and a heaviness into their ears; and even if they see every sign they will not believe in it; so much so that when they come to you they only dispute with you; those who disbelieve say: This is naught but the stories of the ancients.
And among them are they who listen to you, and We set (Literally: make) upon their hearts lids, (so) they do not comprehend it, and in their ears obstruction; and in case they see every sign, they do not believe in it, until (the time) when they come to you, they dispute with you. The ones who have disbelieved say, "Decidedly this is nothing except the myths of the earliest (peoples)."
The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries [i.e., cattle or sheep] - deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.
Had Allāh known any good in them, He would have made them hear. And if He had made them hear, they would [still] have turned away, while they were refusing.
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
And We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And when you mention your Lord alone in the Qur’ān, they turn back in aversion.
And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance - they will never be guided, then - ever.
And even if We had sent down to you, [O Muḥammad], a written scripture on a page and they touched it with their hands, the disbelievers would say, "This is not but obvious magic."
And those who disbelieve say, "This [Qur’ān] is not except a falsehood he invented, and another people assisted him in it." But they have committed an injustice and a lie.