Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:72
He said, "Do they hear you when you supplicate?
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.
Allah, exalted is His remembrance, says: Ibrāhīm said to them: "Do these gods hear you when you call upon them?" The philologists differed concerning the meaning of this. Some grammarians of the school of Baṣra said that the meaning is: "Do they hear from you?" or "Do they hear your calling?" — with "the calling" being omitted, as Zuhayr said:
"The leader of horses whose heels are worn out, expertly curbed with both leather thongs and rope-bands"
— he said: he means: expertly curbed with rope-bands, and he omitted "the rope-bands" and put "the rope-bands" in their place. But some among the philologists who rejected this said: The most eloquent expression in the classical language for this case is that which is in the Qurʾān, for the Arabs say: "I heard Zayd speaking" — by which they mean: "I heard the words of Zayd" — and it is then understood that the hearing does not affect the persons themselves but their words; then they say: "I heard Zayd" — that is: "I heard his words." He said: Had "the leather thongs" not preceded in the verse of Zuhayr, it would not have been permissible to give the rope-bands precedence over them, for one does not say: "I saw the rope-bands" while intending the rope-band as a curbing-means.
