وَإِنّي كُلَّما دَعَوتُهُم لِتَغفِرَ لَهُم جَعَلوا أَصابِعَهُم في آذانِهِم وَاستَغشَوا ثِيابَهُم وَأَصَرّوا وَاستَكبَرُوا استِكبارًا
Indeed whenever I have summoned them so that You might forgive them, they would put their fingers into their ears and draw their cloaks over their heads, and they were persistent [in their un-faith], and disdainful in [their] arrogance.
EXEGESIS
Wastaghshaw (and they draw) is from ghishāwah, which means to envelope or veil, as used in 2:7 and 3:154.
Thiyāb in thiyābahum (their cloaks) is the plural of thawb (clothes, garments), and shares a root with the verb thāba, to return something to its previous state and condition, or to its foreordained and inevitable final state, or where it belongs.
Garments or clothes are called thawb (pl. thiyāb, athwāb) because the yarn or spun thread from which they are made are returned and go back to their foreordained and inevitable final state. The reference to thawb is found in other verses as well, including, and purify your cloak (thiyābaka) (74:4; see also 24:58, 24:60), and in the hereafter, for the inmates of hell, cloaks (thiyāb) of fire will be cut out for them (22:19), and conversely, the inhabitants of paradise will wear green garments (thiyāb) of silk and brocade (18:31; see also 76:21).
Likewise, thāba ilā nafsihi, implies to regain consciousness. Or it may be said, thāba fulānun ilā dārihi (so-and-so returned to his home). The place at a water well where people quench their thirst and to which they keep returning, is, for example, called mathābah; and the Quran uses this term for the Kaaba as well (2:125).
Spiritual recompense and requital for one’s actions is also called thawāb because it goes back to the doer of the action as if implying that the recompense is the same as the action. It simply transforms and returns to the action’s doer, as good or bad, depending on the action. And hence, whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it (99:7-8), and not: will see its recompense.
Note that thawāb may refer to what is good (reward) as well as an evil recompense (chastisement), however it is usually and most commonly used to denote a reward and what is good.
Thiyāb can also be used to refer to one’s character (that covers a person). For example, ṭāhir al-thiyāb (of pure covering) means of flawless character and being irreproachable. Conversely, danis al-thiyāb is used to refer to one of bad character.
Aṣarrū (persistent) is from iṣrār, which suggests intensity. It shares a root with ṣarṣar (69:6) and ṣirr (3:117), which are used to describe an intense cold that destroyed past nations. It often carries the meaning of persistence when it is used with an act of disobedience, a crime, or a sin. It means to firmly resolve and decide to do something and not turn back from it.
Istakbarū istikbāra (disdainful in arrogance) are from kabara (to magnify, make big). In this verse they are in the tenth verb form of istafʿala, which in and of itself implies to seek. Istakbara, therefore, suggests seeking to magnify oneself and having false pride and haughtiness (kibr), as in the verse: Say: ‘Should you be stones, or iron, or a creature more fantastic (yakburu) to your minds!’ (17:50-51), meaning something imagined as being larger and significantly more magnificent than it really is.
Prophet Noah (a) describes his people’s aversion to his summons and their persistent holding on to their disbelief as a result of this haughtiness and being disdainful in [their] arrogance.
EXPOSITION
So that You might forgive them reveals Prophet Noah’s (a) goal. His preaching was an act of kindness and compassion for his people to save them from eternal damnation.
In the previous verse, Prophet Noah (a) lamented their evading him and fleeing from him, and in this verse he states that when they could not run away from his words, they would put their fingers into their ears to stop Prophet Noah’s (a) persistent preaching from reaching their ears and they would draw their cloaks over their heads so that he would not recognise them. And, perhaps, all this was to show Prophet Noah (a) their revulsion to his words and their disgust to even look at him. The pagan Arabs would do the same with the Holy Prophet, and draw their cloaks over their heads (11:5) to avoid recognition.
Besides blocking their ears and hiding, they would also put their hands into their mouths (14:9), meaning they did not respond to Prophet Noah (a), or when they did, they said: We disbelieve in what you have been sent with (14:9).
These actions may have been literal or metaphorical expressions. At face value, they seem childish in their behaviour and we may equate it to the early generations of humans. On the other hand, the attempt by people to block themselves from seeing or hearing guidance is consistent with human history. One may equate it even to present times with the use of media and devices that engage people’s eyes and ears constantly, occupying and drowning them away from God and from paying attention to His message.
In 76:2, after clarifying that man was created to be tested, God declares: so We made him endowed with hearing and sight, meaning these faculties are sources of receiving guidance and fulfilling man’s purpose of creation.
Those who have hearts with which they do not understand and eyes with which they do not see and ears with which they do not hear do not fulfil their purpose as humans so they are like cattle; rather they are more astray… (7:179), deaf, dumb, and blind, they do not apply reason (2:171). See also 2:7 and 6:25.
Of course, the real problem is pride in the heart. Indeed it is not the eyes that turn blind, but the hearts turn blind (22:46). That is why when they are invited to forgiveness, they reject the idea and are disdainful in [their] arrogance, believing it is only the simple-minded and the riff-raff that follow Prophet Noah (a) (11:27, 26:111). We had vested them with hearing and sight and hearts. But neither their hearing availed them nor did their sight, nor their hearts, in any way (46:26). As a result, a seal is set on their hearts, their hearing, and their sight (2:7).
False pride is deemed to be the main reason for withholding a human being from surrendering his self before his Creator. Hence, a muslim (from taslīm) denotes one who submits his will before God and shows humility in subservience before Him. Even in prayer, a Muslim’s ultimate expression of adoration and worship of God is to prostrate before Him. All these are meant to demolish and oppose self-pride.
Also noteworthy is that man is invited to embrace every divine attribute and to become a mirror of them, such as knowledge, power, love, generosity, kindness, compassion, and so forth. One divine attribute, however, is reserved for God alone. It is admirable in the All-mighty but loathsome in His creation. And that is pride. God is al-mutakabbir (the all-magnanimous) (59:23), as He rightly should be. But when this very same term is used for people, it denotes one who is haughty and arrogant and one who, as a result, denies the Day of Resurrection (40:27), and meaninglessly argues and disputes God’s signs (40:35). Hellfire is often described as the [final] abode of the arrogant (al-mutakabbirīn) (16:29, 39:60, 39:72, 40:76).
[1] Raghib, th-w-b.
[2] Hans Wehr, th-w-b.
[3] Raghib, th-w-b.
[4] Raghib, th-w-b.
[5] Hans Wehr, th-w-b.