Commentary
And among them are those who listen to you. Its meaning is: Among them are people who listen to you when you recite the Qur'an and teach the laws, but they do not comprehend or accept. And there are people who look at you and witness the signs of truth and the marks of prophethood, but they do not believe. Then he said: Do you hope that you can make the deaf hear, even though their deafness is accompanied by a lack of intellect? For the deaf person who is rational may discern and deduce if a sound reaches his ears. But when both hearing and intellect are taken away, the matter is complete. And do you think you can guide the blind, even though blindness—meaning the loss of sight—is accompanied by the loss of insight? For the blind person who has insight in his heart may intuit and speculate. As for blindness combined with foolishness, it is the utmost hardship. This means that they are in despair of accepting and believing, like the deaf and the blind who have no insight or intellect. And his saying: 'So do you...' indicates that only Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, can make them hear and guide them by compulsion and force, just as no one can restore hearing and sight to the deaf and blind who lack intellect except Him alone.
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