Tafseer of Ornaments of gold · Az-Zukhruf · 43:40
Then will you make the deaf hear, [O Muhammad], or guide the blind or he who is in clear error?
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.
Explanation of the words of the Exalted: "Can you make the deaf hear, or guide the blind, and whoever is in manifest error?" (43:40)
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "Can you make the deaf hear?" — that is, the one from whom Allah has withheld the hearing of the proofs that He has set forth in this Book, so that He has made him deaf to them; or can you guide to the path of guidance the one whose heart Allah has blinded to the seeing of it, and over whom Satan has gained mastery, so that he has made corruption appear pleasing to him? "And whoever is in manifest error?" — He says: or can you guide the one who has strayed from the straight way, who treads a path other than the path of the truth, whose error has made clear that he has deviated from the truth and strayed from the straight way? The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: that is not in your power; that is only in the power of Allah, in whose hand lies the turning of the hearts of His creatures however He wills. You are only a warner, so convey to them the warning.
