وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَـٰهُ قُرْءَانًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَّقَالُوا۟ لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥٓ ۖ ءَا۬عْجَمِىٌّ وَعَرَبِىٌّ ۗ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ هُدًى وَشِفَآءٌ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيدٍ 44
Translations
And if We had made it a foreign [i.e., non-Arabic] Qur’ān, they would have said, "Why are its verses not explained in detail [in our language]? Is it a foreign [recitation] and an Arab [messenger]?" Say, "It is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure." And those who do not believe - in their ears is deafness, and it is upon them blindness. Those are being called from a distant place.
Transliteration
Wa-law ja'alnāhu Qur'ānan a'jamiyyān la-qālū lawlā fussilat āyātuhu ā a'jamiyyun wa-'arabiyyun qul huwa lil-ladhīna āmanū hudan wa-shifā'un wa-alladhīna lā yu'minūn fī ādhānihim waqrun wa-huwa 'alayhim 'amā ūlā'ika yunādawna min makānin ba'īd
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah addresses the Meccan disbelievers' hypocritical objections to the Qur'an: they claimed they would reject it if it were in a foreign language, yet they rejected it despite it being in clear Arabic. Allah responds that the Qur'an is guidance and healing for believers, while for disbelievers it brings only hardness of hearing and blindness—they are called from a distant place, meaning they are unreachable due to their own spiritual obstruction. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir emphasize that this ayah demonstrates that rejection of truth stems not from the clarity of the message but from the hardness of the disbelievers' hearts.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Fussilat (Chapter 41), a Meccan surah addressing the persistent objections of Quraysh to the Qur'an's message. The broader context involves the Meccan disbelievers' various pretexts for rejecting the revelation, and Allah's response that their rejection is due to spiritual blindness, not any deficiency in the message itself.
Related Hadiths
The concept relates to Sahih Muslim 2645, where the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that hearts can be hardened just as iron is hardened, and this hardness prevents faith from entering. Additionally, Surah Baqarah 2:18 discusses similar spiritual deafness and blindness as a consequence of rejecting guidance.
Themes
Key Lesson
The rejection of truth is not due to lack of clarity in the message, but rather stems from the spiritual condition of the heart; believers should recognize that the Qur'an is a source of healing and guidance available to those who open their hearts to it, while closed hearts create their own spiritual distance from divine mercy.