The pronoun in 'they do not listen' refers to every devil, because it is in the meaning of the devils. It has been recited with both light and heavy pronunciation, and its origin is 'they listen'. Listening means seeking to hear. It is said: 'he listened and heard', or 'he did not hear'.

And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, they are listening but do not hear. This supports the light pronunciation over the heavy one. If you say: 'they do not hear', how is it connected to what came before? I say: it must connect to what came before as a description of every devil, or it is a new statement. The description cannot be correct because the preservation from devils that do not hear and do not listen has no meaning, nor does the new statement work because if someone were to ask: why were you preserved from the devils?

It would be answered that they do not hear: it does not stand, so it remains that it is a disconnected statement, beginning a narrative about the state of those who steal hearing. Al-Zamakhshari invalidated that 'they do not listen' is a description because preservation from a devil that does not hear has no meaning, and he invalidated that its origin is 'so that they do not hear', for the 'lam' was omitted and omitting it is common, then 'an' was omitted and its action was disregarded like:

'Oh you who warn, attend to the battle... and let me witness the pleasures, are you eternal?'

He found the combination of these two omissions unlikely, even though each one of them is permissible on its own. When he invalidated these two aspects, it became necessary for him that it be the beginning of a statement narrating the state of those who steal hearing. Ahmad said: both aspects are correct, and the answer to the issue he raised on the first aspect is that the devil's inability to hear is due to preservation from him. The state of the devil being preserved from him is the same as his state of not hearing, and one of the states necessitates the other. There is no objection to the combination of preservation from him and being described as not hearing in one state, not on the basis that the inability to hear is established before preservation but rather with it and as its counterpart. An example of this verse in this regard is Allah's saying: 'And He has made subservient to you the night and the day and the sun and the moon and the stars, all subservient by His command.' So His saying 'subservient' is a state from what preceded it, where the acting verb is 'made subservient'. Its meaning is correct because making them subservient necessitates their being subservient. The state in which they are subservient is the state in which they were made subservient, not on the meaning of making them subservient while they were already subservient before that. What Al-Zamakhshari indicated in this verse is close to this interpretation, except that he mentioned another interpretation as if questioning this aspect, making 'subservient' a plural of 'subservient' as a source like 'torn', and he made the meaning: 'And He made the night and the day and the sun and the moon subservient to you in various forms of subservience.' In what we have mentioned is enough.

And from this pattern: 'Then We sent Our messengers, and they were not messengers except by being sent', and these do not hear except through preservation. As for the answer to his second issue, the occurrence of two omissions in the saying of Allah: 'Allah clarifies to you so that you do not go astray', and its origin is 'so that you do not go astray', both the 'lam' and 'la' were omitted from their places.

I said: Each of these two omissions is not rejected on its own. As for their coming together, it is a denial of the denials, and it is obligatory to protect the Qur'an from such distortion. If you say: What is the difference between 'I heard so-and-so speaking,' and 'I heard him speaking,' and 'I heard his speech,' and 'I heard to his speech?' I say: The one that is transitive by itself conveys perception, and the one that is transitive with 'to' conveys listening along with perception. The upper assembly: the angels, because they dwell in the heavens. And mankind and jinn: they are the lower assembly, because they are the inhabitants of the earth. And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: they are the scribes from the angels. And from him: the nobles of the angels from every side of the sky, from whichever direction they ascend to steal a hearing, 'dahooran' is an adverbial phrase, meaning: and they are cast out for the purpose of being driven away, or 'madhhoorin' in the state. Or because the act of casting and driving away are close in meaning, as if it were said: 'They drive away or cast out.' Abu Abdur Rahman Al-Sulami read with the opening of the dal on: 'Qadhfa dahooran turudan.' Or on the basis that it has come in the manner of acceptance and inclination. 'Al-wasib': the constant, and 'saba' the matter and 'sabaa,' meaning they are in this world stoned with meteors, and for them in the Hereafter is a type of punishment that is constant and unending. 'Man' in the nominative case is a substitute for the 'wa' in 'they do not hear,' meaning: the devils do not hear except for the devil who snatched a hearing. And it was read: 'Khatifa' with a kasra on the kha and a ta with shadda, and 'Khatfa' with a fatha on the kha and a kasra on the ta with shadda. Their origin is: 'Ikhtatfa.' And it was read: 'Fa-atba' and 'Fa-itba'.