Surah Fatir Ayat 22, Surah Al Fatir 22

Surah Fatir Ayat 22 In Arabic

﷽

وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَحْيَاءُ وَلَا الْأَمْوَاتُ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۖ وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ ﴿22﴾

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Surah Fatir Ayat 22 Transliteration

Bismillahir rahmanir raheem

Wa maa yastawil ahyaaa’u wa lal amwaat; innal laaha yusmi’u mai yashaaa’u wa maaa anta bi musmi’im man fil quboor

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Surah Fatir Ayat 22 Translation

And the living and the dead are not alike. Allah makes to hear whomsoever He wills. And you cannot make to hear those who are in the graves.

[From Holy Quran Translation by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall ]

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Surah Fatir Ayat 22 Explanation

At the beginning of the verse: وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِي الْقُبُورِ‌ (And you cannot make hear those who are in the graves – 22.), disbelievers have been likened to the dead and believers, to the living. In congruence to this, the expression: (those in the graves) here means the disbelievers. The sense is that ‘the way you cannot make the dead hear you, you can also not make these living disbelievers hear you.’

This verse has itself clarified it that, at this place, making someone hear means the kind of listening that is going to be useful, effective and beneficial. Otherwise, the effort to make disbelievers listen, in the absolute sense, has remained an exercise in futility since ever. It has even been a matter of common observation that a call was beamed at them, and they did listen to it. Therefore, the verse means that ‘the way you cannot bring the dead to the right path by making them hear the Divine Word because they have shifted from the avenue of deeds in the world to the arena of recompense in the Hereafter where, even if they confess to their faith, it will not be deemed as trustworthy, similar to that is the condition of the disbelievers.

This proves that the negation of making the ( dead hear referred to in this verse means a particular listening that is beneficial, something because of which the listener forsakes the false and takes to the true. From this presentation, it becomes clear that the present verse has nothing to do with the issue of the ability of the dead to hear. Whether or not the dead hear the living is a different issue in its own place. A detailed discussion about it has appeared in the commentary on Surah Ar-Rum and Surah An-Naml

[From Ma’ariful Quran English by Mufti Taqi Uthmani]