أَلَآ إِنَّهُمْ يَثْنُونَ صُدُورَهُمْ لِيَسْتَخْفُوا۟ مِنْهُ ۚ أَلَا حِينَ يَسْتَغْشُونَ ثِيَابَهُمْ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ عَلِيمٌۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ
2:78; 16:24; 27:75; 28:70; 36:77.
Important Words:
یثنون (fold up) is derived fromثنی . They say ثنی الشیء i.e. he doubled or folded or bent the thing; he turned one part of it upon the other; he drew one of its two extremities to the other; he joined or adjoined one of the things to the other. ثنا زیداmeans, he turned Zaid away or back from his course, or from the object of his want. ثنا صدرہ (lit. he folded his breast or bosom) means, he concealed enmity in his breast or bosom; or he folded up what was in it, in concealment. The expression انھم یثنون صدورھم means, surely they infold and conceal in their bosoms enmity and hatred; or they bend their breasts or bosoms and fold up and conceal what is therein (Lane & Aqrab).
یستغشون ثیابھم (they cover themselves with their garments). یستغشون is derived from استغشی which is again derived from غشیwhich means, it covered or concealed or overwhelmed. استغشی ثوبه or استغشی بثوبه means, he covered himself with his garment in order that he might not see or hear; or he put his garment as a covering over his ears—a phrase denoting a refusal to hearken, or, as some say, an allusion to running (Lane).
Commentary:
In the previous verse, mention was made of the obstacles which of themselves happen to come in the way of men, and of the means to remove them, while the present verse speaks of the obstacles which men themselves put in their way and which can be removed only if they desire to have them removed.
The expression یثنون صدورھم (they fold up their breasts) means that disbelievers keep their doubts and objections hidden in their minds and do not disclose them to others and have them removed. This is why they cannot see the right way. Unless one seeks the satisfaction of doubts by disclosing them to others who are in a position to remove them, one can never attain to truth.
The expression یستغشون ثیابھم (they cover themselves with their garments) is used when a person turns a deaf ear to another man and refuses to see the truth. Thus the second reason why disbelievers were debarred from accepting the truth was that they refused to listen to the Holy Prophet. They not only themselves abstained from listening to the Holy Prophet but also prevented others from doing so, declaring that what he preached was magic and would captivate their hearts if they hearkened to it (see 21:4; 41:27; 46:8; 74:25). This attitude of disbelievers in refusing to listen to the Holy Prophet was even more injurious for them than their keeping doubts hidden in their hearts, because there is a possibility, however remote, that a person who does not disclose his doubts to others may sometimes happen to listen to a discourse dealing with the subject about which he entertains doubts and may thus have them removed by chance, but there is no hope for a person who refuses to listen to the truth.
The verse points to the fact that disbelievers have to deal with a Being Who knows even their secret ideas and therefore they cannot take shelter under the false plea that, as the truth
was not explained to them, they deserved to be excused if they did not accept it. A person who tries to evade the truth and deliberately shuts his eyes to it cannot excuse himself on the score of ignorance. Such men are as guilty as those who refuse to accept the truth after it has been fully explained to them. They alone can legitimately bring forward the plea of ignorance who make an honest effort to understand and arrive at the truth, but somehow or other fail to do so, or whom the Message of truth does not reach though they are ready to welcome it.
The words, what they conceal and what they reveal, may also refer to the concealed hatred which disbelievers harbour in their minds against the heavenly Messenger and to their open acts of hostility towards him.
The expression, ذات الصدور (what is in their breasts), refers to the hidden thoughts that dominate men. As the uppermost part of anything is called its صدر (Lane) and as the thoughts of a man naturally occupy the highest position in him—all his actions being subordinate to them—therefore, they are represented as being seated in his صدر of which the plural is صدور. The verse thus means that God has sent His Messenger because He knew the innermost corrupt condition of the minds of disbelievers, which demanded that a heavenly reformer should come. Therefore, they cannot say that they needed no reformer.
2:78; 16:24; 27:75; 28:70; 36:77.
The disbelievers keep their doubts and objections hidden in their minds and do not disclose them and have them removed. The reason why they are debarred from accepting the truth is their refusal to open their hearts and have their doubts satisfied.