Surah Al-Kahf 18:101 — Meaning, Translation & Reflection

ٱلَّذِينَ كَانَتْ أَعْيُنُهُمْ فِى غِطَآءٍ عَن ذِكْرِى وَكَانُوا۟ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَمْعًا

English: those whose eyes were blind to My signs, those who were unable to hear.

Bengali: যাদের চক্ষুসমূহের উপর পর্দা ছিল আমার স্মরণ থেকে এবং যারা শুনতেও সক্ষম ছিল না।

Meaning & Reflection

'Those whose eyes had been within a cover from My remembrance, and who could not hear.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the cause of their ruin named — a self-imposed blindness and deafness to God's remembrance: eyes 'in a cover' (ghita'), ears that could not bear to hear the truth. Ask yourself: their disbelief is described not as an intellectual conclusion but as a *sensory* refusal — eyes veiled, ears closed, to the reminder of God. It is disturbingly recognisable: not that I *cannot* see or hear the reminders, but that I keep a cover over them, tune them out, scroll past, stay too busy and too distracted to let them land. This verse warns that a habit of not-looking and not-listening hardens into an actual inability. What 'cover' have I let settle over my eyes toward God's remembrance — and am I still able to lift it, if I choose to look and listen now, before the cover becomes permanent?

Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.

Reflect with the Five Lenses

Maani's framework for Tadabbur (heart-centred reflection) on Surah Al-Kahf 18:101:

• Wording. Look closely at the specific words and structure. Which word stands out, and why might Allah have chosen it here?
• Quranic Worlds. Place the verse in its context — what is happening around it, and what world does it open up?
• Personal Experience. Ask not just what this means, but what it means TO me and FOR me, right now in my life.
• Connections. How does this verse connect to other verses, to the Sunnah, or to themes across the Quran?
• General Lessons. What timeless lesson or action point can I carry away and live by?