سُوْرَةُ الرُّوْمِ
Surah Ar-Room (30) — Ayah 52
فَإِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ وَلَا تُسْمِعُ ٱلصُّمَّ ٱلدُّعَآءَ إِذَا وَلَّوْا۟ مُدْبِرِينَ ﴿52﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
So verily, you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) cannot make the dead to hear (i.e. the disbelievers), nor can you make the deaf to hear the call, when they show their backs and turn away.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَإِنَّكَ
fa-innaka
So indeed, you
لَا
lā
(can) not
تُسْمِعُ
tus'miʿu
make the dead hear
ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ
l-mawtā
make the dead hear
وَلَا
walā
and not
تُسْمِعُ
tus'miʿu
make the deaf hear
ٱلصُّمَّ
l-ṣuma
make the deaf hear
ٱلدُّعَآءَ
l-duʿāa
the call
إِذَا
idhā
when
وَلَّوْا۟
wallaw
they turn
مُدْبِرِينَ
mud'birīna
retreating
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
(Ayah 52) ➊ { فَاِنَّكَ لَا تُسْمِعُ الْمَوْتٰى … :} In this verse, Allah Almighty has comforted the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that despite the pleasant winds, rain, ships at sea, and countless other signs indicating the oneness of Allah, if these people do not believe, then do not be grieved, because you can make the living hear, not the dead, and you can make those with ears hear, not the deaf, while these people who persist in disbelief and stubbornness are not truly alive but are dead in reality, and they do not possess ears but are like such deaf people who are turning their backs and walking away, to whom the message cannot possibly be conveyed in any way, because if they were seeing, perhaps they would understand by seeing, but when they are deprived of hearing and are also turning their backs, then how can you make them hear!?
➋ The loftiness and eloquence of Allah’s speech cannot be matched by anyone’s words, but to a human extent, a poet has expressed this meaning well.
{لَقَدْ أَسْمَعْتَ لَوْ أَسْمَعْتَ حَيًّا ¤ وَ لٰكِنْ لَا حَيَاةَ لِمَنْ تُنَادِيْ ¤ وَ لَوْ نَارًا نَفَخْتَ بِهَا أَضَاءَتْ ¤ وَ لٰكِنْ أَنْتَ تَنْفُخُ فِي الرَّمَادِ}
“You have certainly conveyed your message if you were calling out to someone alive, but the one you are calling out to has no life in him. And if there were even a small spark in which you blew, it would have lit up, but you are blowing into ashes.”
➌ There is no doubt that in this verse, by the dead and the deaf are meant the disbelievers who do not believe, but this verse is a clear proof that the deceased dead do not hear the words of the living, because if the dead could hear, then in what sense are the disbelievers being likened to the dead? The reality is that the dead do not hear, and this verse is a clear proof of that. Yes, those two occasions are exceptions to this, which are proven by Sahih ahadith: one is the address of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to the slain disbelievers at Badr after they were thrown into the well (see Bukhari: 3976), and the other is the deceased hearing the sound of the footsteps of those returning after the burial. (See Bukhari: 1338)
➋ The loftiness and eloquence of Allah’s speech cannot be matched by anyone’s words, but to a human extent, a poet has expressed this meaning well.
{لَقَدْ أَسْمَعْتَ لَوْ أَسْمَعْتَ حَيًّا ¤ وَ لٰكِنْ لَا حَيَاةَ لِمَنْ تُنَادِيْ ¤ وَ لَوْ نَارًا نَفَخْتَ بِهَا أَضَاءَتْ ¤ وَ لٰكِنْ أَنْتَ تَنْفُخُ فِي الرَّمَادِ}
“You have certainly conveyed your message if you were calling out to someone alive, but the one you are calling out to has no life in him. And if there were even a small spark in which you blew, it would have lit up, but you are blowing into ashes.”
➌ There is no doubt that in this verse, by the dead and the deaf are meant the disbelievers who do not believe, but this verse is a clear proof that the deceased dead do not hear the words of the living, because if the dead could hear, then in what sense are the disbelievers being likened to the dead? The reality is that the dead do not hear, and this verse is a clear proof of that. Yes, those two occasions are exceptions to this, which are proven by Sahih ahadith: one is the address of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to the slain disbelievers at Badr after they were thrown into the well (see Bukhari: 3976), and the other is the deceased hearing the sound of the footsteps of those returning after the burial. (See Bukhari: 1338)
