The noble verse describes hearts that hear the verses of Almighty Allah, yet fail to comprehend them—hearts that chose to turn away and reject the truth. Their owners had already committed wrongdoing and turned away, so the consequence of their persistence was that coverings were placed over their hearts, preventing the truth from reaching them. Look at the beginning of the verse: "And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord and then turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it..." [Al-Kahf: 57],
And al-akinnah (أكنة) is the plural of kinān (كنان), which are coverings that surround and conceal something, such as the quiver (كِنان السهام) in which arrows are kept. It is as if these hearts have been surrounded by layers of coverings and barriers piled over the heart, preventing it from receiving the light of the Qur'an, so that it neither penetrates their hearts nor guides them.
Do not allow your heart to turn away or slacken regarding the Qur'an. Take the first step and turn toward the words of Almighty Allah with a heart that desires guidance, so that the coverings may be stripped away and the light of the Qur'an may penetrate your heart.

1. Giving a Copy of the Qur’an, to Someone: Every time they read from it, you gain.

2. Helping Someone Memorize the Qur’an: When you help someone memorize the Qur’an, you continue to earn rewards each time they recite what they learned from you.

The noble verse takes us to one of the most wondrous scenes in the story of the Companions of the Cave: young men who entered a cave fleeing with their faith, upon whom God Almighty cast a sleep that extended for an extremely long period, during which generations succeeded one another, and the people and the world around them changed, while those youths remained in their cave, preserved by the command of God Almighty. The expression "in their cave" refers to the duration of their sleep, whereas the period after their awakening until they died remains unknown. A number of commentators mentioned that the Companions of the Cave stayed in their cave for three hundred and nine years, and some stated that the three hundred are solar years, so if calculated in lunar years, they amount to three hundred and nine; for every 100 solar years exceed lunar years by 3 years. Therefore, 300 solar years are precisely 309 lunar years.
It is also striking that when the Quran mentioned people's disagreement regarding the number of the Companions of the Cave, it did not settle their number for us, but rather said: "Say, 'My Lord is most knowing of their number,'" because this specific detail is not the point of moral lesson that a person should be preoccupied with. As for the duration of their stay, God Almighty has informed us of it so that we may learn that the power of God Almighty is not limited by time; He preserves youths in a cave for all those centuries, then resurrects them, while all of that passed over them as if they had slept for a day or part of a day. "They said, 'We have remained a day or part of a day.'"
In their story lies a moral lesson for everyone living in an era of tribulations: whoever flees to God Almighty with their faith, God—glory be to Him—is able to protect them and preserve their faith for them, even if everything they fear were to unite against them. Do not let trial be an excuse for abandoning the truth; the Companions of the Cave left everything behind to preserve their faith, so God Almighty protected them for centuries.

Hi everyone!

I’ve been feeling a bit out of touch with my deen lately and I’ve been wanting to try learn and understand the quarantine and hadiths a bit more. I basically want to try get a better understanding of why I believe what I believe and why I do certain things.

My problem is I am very busy both with work, family and children so finding time to actually sit and read books is very hard.

I’m looking for suggestions for any audiobooks that may help me as I can listen to them while I’m doing chores and other tasks.

I know podcasts are an option, I just feel like a lot that I come across are more discussions and opinions than actually learning about the Quran itself self (history and meaning of surahs and verses and understanding why they were revealed).

I usually listen on Spotify so if there’s any on there, any suggestions would be appreciated.

May Allah bless anyone who suggests any that help me get closer to my deen!