Transliteration:( Wa man azlamu mimman zukkira bi ayaati Rabbihee fa-a'rada 'anhaa wa nasiya maa qaddamat yadaah; innaa ja'alnaa 'alaa quloobihim akinnatan any yafqahoohu wa feee aazaanihim waqraa; wa in tad'uhum ilal hudaa falany yahtadooo izan abadaa )
"And who is more unjust than the one who, when reminded of his Lord’s signs, turns away and forgets what his hands have sent forward [135]? We have placed coverings [136] over their hearts, so they do not understand the Quran, and in their ears is deafness [137]. And if you call them to guidance, they will never be guided [138]."
This tells us that to forget one’s past sins is the way of the cursed and wretched, while remembering sins and forgetting one’s own good deeds is the path of the pious. A believer should always remember his own sins and the good deeds of others.
The attribution of these coverings to Allah Almighty is the result of human stubbornness. Due to their arrogance and hostility, Allah places veils on their hearts and deafness in their ears, just as it is said that Allah causes the deceased to die—meaning, He creates death.
This is because they lack love and respect for the Prophet ﷺ in their hearts. The Holy Qur’an only reaches those hearts that have love for its Beloved Possessor ﷺ. That is why an infidel is first brought to Islam by reciting the Kalimah Tayyibah, and only then is the Qur'an taught.
This verse does not imply innocence for disbelievers. Rather, it teaches that faithless people do not gain a true understanding of the Qur’an, as is evident even today.
This refers to those disbelievers whose death on infidelity is already in the knowledge of Allah Almighty, not all disbelievers in general—for many did eventually accept Islam.
The tafsir of Surah Kahf verse 57 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Kahf ayat 55 which provides the complete commentary from verse 55 through 59.
(18:57) Who is more wicked than the man who, when he is reminded by the revelations of his Lord, turns away from them and forgets (the consequence of) the deeds wrought by his own hands? We have laid veils over their hearts lest they understand the message of the Qur’an, and We have caused heaviness in their ears. Call them as you may to the Right Path, they will not be ever guided aright.[54]
54. Allah puts a covering over the heart of a person and makes his ears hard of hearing the truth when he adopts the attitude of contention, dispute, wrangling and argumentation towards the admonition of a well wisher and tries to defeat the truth with the weapons of falsehood and cunning. Naturally this attitude produces in him obduracy and obstinacy so that he turns a deaf ear towards guidance, and is unwilling to realize his error before seeing his evil end. For such people pay no heed to admonition and warning and insist on falling into the abyss of perdition: then and then alone they are convinced that it was perdition towards which they were rushing headlong.
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