Allah's statement,

﴿وَمِنْهُمْ مَّن يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْراً وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ ءَايَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا﴾

(And of them there are some who listen to you; but We have set veils on their hearts, so they understand it not, and deafness in their ears; if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;) means, they come to you, (O Muhammad ), so that they hear you recite the Qur'an, but its recitation does not benefit them, because Allah has set veils on their hearts, and so they do not understand the Qur'an,

﴿وَفِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا﴾

(and (set) deafness in their ears;) that prevents them from hearing what benefits them. In another Ayah, Allah said;

﴿وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِى يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لاَ يَسْمَعُ إِلاَّ دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً﴾

(And the example of those who disbelieve, is as that of him who shouts at one who hears nothing but calls and cries.) ﴿2:171﴾ Allah said next,

﴿وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ ءَايَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا﴾

(if they see every one of the Ayat they will not believe therein;) meaning, they will not believe in any of the Ayat, proofs, clear evidences and signs they witness because they do not have sound comprehension or fair judgment. In another Ayah, Allah said,

﴿وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لأَسْمَعَهُمْ﴾

(Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen.) ﴿8:23﴾ Allah said,

﴿حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءُوكَ يُجَـدِلُونَكَ﴾

(to the point that when they come to you to argue with you...) using falsehood against truth,

﴿يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ أَسَـطِيرُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ﴾

(those who disbelieve say: "These are nothing but tales of the men of old.'') The disbelievers say, what you (O Muhammad ) brought us was taken from the books of those who were before us, meaning plagiarized,

﴿وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْأَوْنَ عَنْهُ﴾

(And they prevent others from him and they themselves keep away from him,) They discourage people from following the truth, believing in Muhammad and obeying the Qur'an,

﴿وَيَنْأَوْنَ عَنْهُ﴾

(and they themselves keep away from him,) They thus combine both evil acts, for they neither benefit themselves, nor let others benefit from the Prophet . `Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said that the Ayah,

﴿وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ﴾

(And they prevent others from him.) means, they hinder people from believing in Muhammad . Muhammad bin Al-Hanafiyyah said, "The disbelievers of Quraysh used to refrain from meeting Muhammad and they discouraged people from coming to him.'' Similar was reported from Qatadah, Mujahid and Ad-Dahhak and several others.

﴿وَإِن يُهْلِكُونَ إِلاَّ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ﴾

(and (by doing so) they destroy not but themselves, yet they perceive (it) not.) They destroy themselves by committing this evil action, and its harm will only touch them. Yet, they do not perceive this fact!

﴿وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُواْ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواْ يلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلاَ نُكَذِّبَ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ - بَلْ بَدَا لَهُمْ مَّا كَانُواْ يُخْفُونَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَوْ رُدُّواْ لَعَـدُواْ لِمَا نُهُواْ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ - وَقَالُواْ إِنْ هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَبْعُوثِينَ - وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُواْ عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ قَالَ أَلَيْسَ هَـذَا بِالْحَقِّ قَالُواْ بَلَى وَرَبِّنَا قَالَ فَذُوقُواْ العَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ ﴾

(27. If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say: "Would that we were but sent back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our Lord, and we would be of the believers!'') (28. Nay, what they had been concealing before has become manifest to them. But if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.) (29. And they said: "There is no (other life) but our (present) life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected.'') (30. If you could but see when they will stand before their Lord! He will say: "Is not this the truth'' They will say: "Yes, by our Lord!'' He will then say: "So taste you the torment because you used not to believe.'')