Popular Translations
Muhammad Asad
and so they say, [as it were:] “Our hearts are veiled from whatever thou callest us to, [O Muhammad,] and in our ears is deafness, and between us and thee is a barrier. Do, then, [whatever thou wilt, whereas,] behold, we shall do [as we have always done]!”
Arthur John Arberry
They say, 'Our hearts are veiled from what thou callest us to, and in our ears is a heaviness, and between us and thee there is a veil; so act; we are acting!
Yusuf Ali (Saudi Rev. 1985)
They say: "Our hearts are under veils, (concealed) from that to which thou dost invite us, and in our ears in a deafness, and between us and thee is a screen: so do thou (what thou wilt); for us, we shall do (what we will!)"
Arabic
وَقَالُوا۟ قُلُوبُنَا فِیۤ أَكِنَّةࣲ مِّمَّا تَدۡعُونَاۤ إِلَیۡهِ وَفِیۤ ءَاذَانِنَا وَقۡرࣱ وَمِنۢ بَیۡنِنَا وَبَیۡنِكَ حِجَابࣱ فَٱعۡمَلۡ إِنَّنَا عَـٰمِلُونَ ٥
Transliteration (2021)
waqālū qulūbunā fī akinnatin mimmā tadʿūnā ilayhi wafī ādhāninā waqrun wamin bayninā wabaynika ḥijābun fa-iʿ'mal innanā ʿāmilūn