وَقَالُوا قُلُوبُنَا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَا إِلَيْهِ وَفِي آذَانِنَا وَقْرٌ وَمِن بَيْنِنَا وَبَيْنِكَ حِجَابٌ فَاعْمَلْ إِنَّنَا عَامِلُونَ
They say, ‘Our hearts are in veils [which shut them off] from what you invite us to, and there is a deafness in our ears, and there is a curtain between us and you. So act [as your faith requires]; we too are acting [according to our own].’
Agha Ali Puya Commentary
Commentary on Quran 41:5
[Pooya/Ali Commentary 41:5] The consequence of their wilful rejection and belying of the revelation created a distance between the disbelievers and the Holy Prophet who came to teach them. This was either a superiority complex adopting the sarcastic tone of an inferiority complex, or it expressed calculated indifference to the divine guidance.