Quran Universe
18:101

ٱلَّذِينَ كَانَتۡ أَعۡيُنُهُمۡ فِي غِطَآءٍ عَن ذِكۡرِي وَكَانُواْ لَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ سَمۡعًا

Allatheena kanat aAAyunuhum fee ghitain AAan thikree wakanoo la yastateeAAoona samAAan

Those whose eyes had been within a cover [removed] from My remembrance, and they were not able to hear.

Word by word
  1. ٱلَّذِينَThose
  2. كَانَتۡhad been
  3. أَعۡيُنُهُمۡtheir eyes
  4. فِيwithin
  5. غِطَآءٍa cover
  6. عَنfrom
  7. ذِكۡرِيMy remembrance
  8. وَكَانُواْand were
  9. لَاnot
  10. يَسۡتَطِيعُونَable
  11. سَمۡعًا(to) hear
Al-Kahf · 18:101Makkah

Their eyes were covered from My reminder.

Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear

Why they ended there
the Reminderwas right there
but
eyes coveredneglected it
could not bear to hearrefused guidance
Where the covering came from
no one told mean excuse
I looked awayagain and again

Ibn Kathir explains they neglected it, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear, refusing guidance. He cites the verse that whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Gracious is given a devil as a companion. The covering began with their own looking away.

You keep the Quran app on the last screen of your phone, behind the games. Every time the reminder pops up, you swipe it away. Small swipes become a covering over the eyes.

I am not rejecting anything. I am just busy.

Looking away again and again can harden into not seeing at all.

Try this

Move your Quran app to your home screen today and open it once.

Related43:3619:82
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 18:100)

And on that Day We shall present Hell to the disbelievers, plain to view (100)(To) those whose eyes had been under a covering from My Reminder, and they could not bear to hear (it)(101)Do then those who disbelieved think that they can take My servants as Awliya' [protectors] besides Me? Verily, We have prepared Hell as an entertainment for the disbelievers (102)

Hell will be displayed before the Disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us what He will do to the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection. He will show Hell to them, meaning He will bring it forth for them to see its punishment and torment before they enter it. This will intensify their distress and grief. In Sahih Muslim it is recorded that Ibn Mas'ud said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

يُؤْتَى بِجَهَنَّمَ تُقَادُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِسَبْعِينَ أَلْفَ زِمَامٍ، مَعَ كُلِّ زِمَامٍ سَبْعُونَ أَلْفَ مَلَكٍ

(Hell will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, pulled by means of seventy thousand reins, each of which will be held by seventy thousand angels.)

Then Allah says of them:

الَّذِينَ كَانَتْ أَعْيُنُهُمْ فِي غِطَاءٍ عَن ذِكْرِي

((To) those whose eyes had been under a covering from My Reminder,) meaning, they neglected it, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to it, refusing to accept guidance and follow the truth. As Allah says:

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ

(And whosoever turns away blindly from the remembrance of the Most Gracious, We appoint for him a Shaytan to be a companion for him.)(43:36) And here Allah says:

وَكَانُوا لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَمْعًا

(and they could not bear to hear (it).) meaning, they did not understand the commands and prohibitions of Allah. Then He says:

أَفَحَسِبَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَن يَتَّخِذُوا عِبَادِي مِن دُونِي أَوْلِيَاءَ

(Do then those who disbelieved think that they can take My servants as Awliya' [protectors] besides Me?) meaning, do they think that this is right for them and that it is going to benefit them?

كَلَّا ۚ سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدًّا

(Nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents to them)[19:82].

Allah says that He has prepared Hell as their abode on the Day of Resurrection.