And when this inevitable decree made it clear that their state has become like that of one who is destined for death, it is not possible for them to hear except Allah, and it is not possible for them to respond by habit. He said: "Indeed, only those who hear will respond," meaning: in the course of your habits, "those who hear," meaning: among them are those who are capable of hearing because they are alive, and they will reflect at that time on what is conveyed to them and will benefit from it. These have equaled the dead in their lack of the ability to hear, as it pertains to their feelings. "And the dead," meaning: all of them, in sense and meaning, "Allah will resurrect them," meaning: the King who encompasses knowledge and power. He is capable of resurrecting them by bestowing faith upon the disbeliever and returning the soul to the perished, so they will hear at that time. Thus, the verse is from the context: he omitted life from the first to indicate the "dead" in it, and from the second, he omitted hearing to indicate "they hear" in it.

And when he established that he who does not believe is like the dead, urging towards faith and encouraging it, and he estimated his ability to resurrect, he warned of his might by saying: "Then to Him," meaning: alone, "they will be returned," meaning: in a sense in this world, for He is capable of all that He wills from them. Nothing of their states will escape His will, either in essence or in feeling after death, and they will be driven forcefully to a position where there will be a separation between every oppressed person and his oppressor.