Tafsir of Fussilat 41:44

"They used to say, out of obstinacy: 'Why was the Quran not sent down in the language of the non-Arabs?'"

It was said: If it were as they suggest, they would not have abandoned their objection and obstinacy. They would have said: "Why were its verses not detailed?"—meaning, clarified and summarized in a tongue they could understand.

"Is it non-Arabic and Arabic?" The hamza is one of denial. It means: They would have denied it and said, "A non-Arabic Quran and an Arab messenger (or an Arab audience to whom it is sent)?"

It is also recited as A‘jamī (non-Arabic). An A‘jamī is one who does not speak clearly and whose speech is not understood, regardless of his origin. An ‘Ajamī is one attributed to the nation of the non-Arabs.

In the recitation of al-Hasan, it is read as A‘jamī without the interrogative hamza, as a statement of fact that the Quran is non-Arabic while the messenger (or the one to whom it is sent) is Arab. The meaning is that no matter how God’s verses came to them, they would find a way to be obstinate, for these people are not seeking the truth; they are merely following their whims.

In al-Hasan’s recitation, it is also possible that it means: "Why were its verses not detailed in such a way that some were a clarification for the non-Arabs and some a clarification for the Arabs?"

If you ask: How is it correct to refer to the "Arab" as the one to whom it is sent, when they are the Arab nation? I say: It is based on what must occur in the denial of a denier. If he saw a non-Arabic book written to a group of Arabs, he would say: "A non-Arabic book, and the one to whom it is written is an Arab." This is because the basis of the denial lies in the incongruity between the state of the book and the state of the recipient, not on whether the recipient is one or many. Therefore, it must be stripped down to the purpose for which it was intended, without adding anything that would disrupt that purpose. Do you not see that if you saw a long garment on a short woman, you would say: "The garment is long, and the wearer is short"? If you said, "And the wearer (female) is short," you would be speaking redundantly and unnecessarily, because the speech is not about the gender of the wearer, but about a purpose beyond that.

"Say: It is..."—meaning the Quran—"guidance and healing"—guidance to the truth and healing "for what is in the breasts"—from doubt and suspicion.

If you ask: "And those who do not believe, in their ears is deafness" is disconnected from the mention of the Quran; what is the aspect of its connection? I say: It must be one of two things:

1. It is in the genitive case, conjoined to His saying: "For those who believe," meaning: "It is for those who believe a guidance and healing, and for those who do not believe, in their ears is deafness." However, this involves conjoining to two different agents, even if al-Akhfash permits it.
2. It is in the nominative case, based on the estimation: "And as for those who do not believe, [it] is in their ears deafness," with the subject omitted, or "In their ears is deafness from it."

It is also recited as wa-huwa ‘alayhim ‘am (and it is upon them blindness) and ‘aman, like His saying: "But it has been made obscure to you" (Hud: 28).

"They are being called from a distant place"—meaning they do not accept it nor do they lend their ears to it. Their likeness in this is like someone being shouted at from a far distance, from which the voice cannot be heard, so he does not hear the call.

"And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, but it was disagreed upon. And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord, it would have been judged between them. And indeed, they are, concerning it, in suspicious doubt."