Surah Nuh Tafseer

وَإِنِّي كُلَّمَا دَعَوْتُهُمْ لِتَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ جَعَلُوا أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي اذَانِهِمْ

وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِيَابَهُمْ

And verily, every time I called unto them that You might forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their ears, covered themselves up with their garments,

meaning, `they closed up their ears so that they could not hear what I was calling them to.'

This is similar to what Allah said about the disbelievers of the Quraysh.

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَا تَسْمَعُواْ لِهَـذَا الْقُرْءَانِ وَالْغَوْاْ فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ

And those who disbelieve say:"Listen not to this Qur'an, and make noise in the midst of its (recitation) that you may overcome." (41:26)

وَاسْتَغْشَوْا ثِيَابَهُمْ

covered themselves up with their garments, Ibn Jarir recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said,

"They concealed themselves under false pretences from him so that he would not recognize them."

Sa`id bin Jubayr and As-Suddi both said,

"They covered their heads so that they could not hear what he was saying."

وَأَصَرُّوا

and persisted,

meaning, they continued in what they were upon of associating partners with Allah and great disbelief.

وَاسْتَكْبَرُوا اسْتِكْبَارًا

and magnified themselves in pride.

meaning, they were turned away from following the truth and submitting to it.

ثُمَّ إِنِّي دَعَوْتُهُمْ جِهَارًا