Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:42
And among them are those who listen to you. But can you cause the deaf to hear, although they will not use reason?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُونَ إِلَيْكَ أَفَأَنْتَ تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ وَلَوْ كَانُوا لا يَعْقِلُونَ (And among them are those who listen to you — but can you make the deaf hear, even though they would not reason?) (42)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And among these polytheists (mushrikīn) are those who listen to what you say. أَفَأَنْتَ تُسْمِعُ الصُّمَّ وَلَوْ كَانُوا لا يَعْقِلُونَ — that is to say: "Can you create the hearing for them, even though they would possess no hearing by which they could reason — or is it I who do that?"
This is nothing other than an announcement from Allah to His servants that the tawfīq (divine guidance) toward belief (īmān) in Him lies solely in His hand and belongs to no one else. He says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Just as you are not able, O Muḥammad, to make one whose hearing I have taken away hear, so too you are not able to make a heart understand My command and My prohibition when I have stripped that heart of the comprehension of it — for I have sealed it so that it will not believe.
