Commentary
And when he finished with the parable; he revealed the intended meaning of their darknesses by stating that it is what is in their ears of the weight that prevents them from benefiting from hearing, and what is in their tongues of the dumbness that prevents them from speaking good that arises from the lack of understanding that comes from the blindness of insight and the corruption of hearts and secrets, and what is upon their eyes of the veil that prevents them from reflection and upon their insights of the coverings that contradict remembrance. He said: ﴿Deaf﴾ meaning to the beneficial hearing ﴿Mute﴾ regarding the speech that is useful because their hearts are sealed, so no good arises from them to be cast to their tongues. ﴿Blind﴾ in sight and insight regarding the guidance to what has preceded of the sealing upon their feelings. And when he was in the position of responding to the call to faith; he prioritized hearing because it is the mainstay in that, and he followed with speech because it enables the deaf to express the intended meaning, and he concluded with sight for the possibility of guidance through it by indication; and likewise what comes in this surah is the same unlike what is in Al-Isra,
﴿So they﴾ meaning it resulted from that that they ﴿do not﴾ And since the intended meaning is generalization in every return, the one returned from was not mentioned, so he said: ﴿They return﴾ meaning from their tyranny and misguidance to the guidance that they sold and not to their condition that they were upon nor do they transition from their state at all, because they are like one whose condition is this, and one whose condition is this cannot manage to leave his place by advancement or delay.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Baqarah verse 18