Tafsir of Fussilat 41:22

"And you were not concealing yourselves..."

The meaning is: You used to hide behind walls and curtains when committing immoral acts. Your concealment was not out of fear that your own limbs would testify against you, for you did not believe in the validity of their testimony; rather, you denied the Resurrection and the Recompense entirely.

Instead, you only hid because you thought that "Allah does not know much of what you do"—meaning the hidden aspects of your deeds. It is this very assumption that brought about your ruin.

In this is a reminder that it is the duty of the believer never to let it slip from his mind that he has a watchful eye from Allah, a guardian and a witness. Consequently, in his moments of solitude, he should be more reverent, more modest, and more cautious than he is in the presence of others. He must not be lax in his private affairs, lest he resemble those who held this [false] assumption.

It is also recited: "wa-lākin zaʿamtum" (but you assumed).

Regarding the verse: "wa-dhālikum ẓannukum alladhī ẓanantum bi-rabbikum ardākum" (And that, your assumption which you assumed about your Lord, has brought you to ruin):

• Dhālikum is in the nominative case as the subject (mubtadaʾ).
• Ẓannukum and ardākum are the two predicates (khabaran).
• It is also permissible for ẓannukum to be an appositive (badal) for dhālikum, with ardākum serving as the predicate.

"So if they are patient, the Fire is a dwelling for them; and if they ask to be excused, they are not of those who will be excused."

"And We appointed for them companions who made fair-seeming to them what was before them and what was behind them, and the word became justified against them among nations of jinn and mankind that had passed away before them. Indeed, they were losers."