Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 47

أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ سَمْعَكُمْ وَأَبْصَـرَكُمْ

(Tell me, if Allah took away your hearing and your sight.) just as He gave these senses to you. In another Ayah, Allah said;

هُوَ الَّذِى أَنشَأَكُمْ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالاٌّبْصَـرَ

(It is He Who has created you, and endowed you with hearing, seeing.) 67:23. The Ayah above might also mean that Allah will not allow the disbelievers to benefit from these senses in religious terms. This is why He said next,

وَخَتَمَ عَلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ

(and sealed up your hearts,.) He also said in other Ayat,

أَمَّن يَمْلِكُ السَّمْعَ والاٌّبْصَـرَ

(Or who owns hearing and sight) 10:31, and,

وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ

(And know that Allah comes in between a person and his heart.) Allah said;

مَّنْ إِلَـهٌ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَأْتِيكُمْ بِهِ

(Is there a god other than Allah who could restore them to you) Meaning, is there anyone except Allah who is able to give you back these senses if Allah took them from you Only Allah is able to do so, and this is why He said here,

انْظُرْ كَيْفَ نُصَرِّفُ الاٌّيَـتِ

(See how variously We explain the Ayat,) and make them plain and clear, testifying to Allah's Oneness in lordship and that those worshipped besides Him are all false and unworthy.

ثُمَّ هُمْ يَصْدِفُونَ

(yet they turn aside.) After this explanation, they still turn away from the truth and hinder people from following it. Allah's statement,

قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَـكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ بَغْتَةً

(Say: "Tell me, if the punishment of Allah comes to you suddenly...") means, while you are unaware -- or during the night -- striking you all of a sudden,

أَوْ جَهْرَةً

(or openly) during the day, or publicly,

هَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلاَّ الْقَوْمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ

(will any be destroyed except the wrongdoing people) This torment only strikes those who commit injustice against themselves by associating others with Allah, while those who worship Allah alone without partners will be saved from it, and they will have no fear or sorrow. In another Ayah, Allah said;

الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُواْ إِيمَـنَهُمْ بِظُلْمٍ

(It is those who believe and confuse not their belief with Zulm, (wrong or Shirk).) 6:82 Allah's statement,

وَمَا نُرْسِلُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلاَّ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ

(And We send not the Messengers but as bearers of glad tidings and as warners.) means, the Messengers ﷺ bring good news to Allah's servants, as well as, command all that is good and righteous. They also warn those who disbelieve in Allah of His anger and of all types of torment. Allah said,

فَمَنْ ءَامَنَ وَأَصْلَحَ

(So whosoever believes and does righteous good deeds.) meaning, whoever believes in his heart with what the Messengers were sent with and makes his works righteous by imitating them;

فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ

(upon such shall come no fear,) concerning the future,

وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

(nor shall they grieve.) about what they missed in the past and left behind them in this world. Certainly, Allah will be the Wali and Protector over what they left behind. Allah said next,

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا يَمَسُّهُمُ الْعَذَابُ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَفْسُقُونَ

(But those who reject Our Ayat, the torment will strike them for their rebelling.) The torment will strike them because of disbelieving in the Message of the Messengers, defying Allah's commands, committing what He prohibited and transgressing His set limits.

In the last verse (45), it was said that, when the mass punishment of Allah Ta` ala came, the people who did wrong were uprooted to the last man. Said immediately after was: وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds) where the hint given is: Whenever the wrongdoers and the unjust are visited by some punishment or calamity, that is a blessing for the whole world for which people should be grateful.

The granting of ears, eyes and heart to man indicates what his Creator wants from him. The Creator wants man to hear and see His signs and accept them using rational arguments. If a man does not utilise these God-given capabilities for the purpose they are meant, then he is running the risk that he may be declared incapable and his capabilities may be snatched from him. How helpless is one who is rendered blind, deaf and mentally disabled because such a person will remain of no social value. But there is a kind of helplessness greater than this: it is to have ears but be deaf to the Truth; it is to have eyes but be blind to the Truth; it is to have a heart in one’s breast but be incapable of understanding the Truth. This deprivation is much more serious than the first kind, because it makes a man debased and worthless in respect of the Hereafter; there is no shortcoming more heinous than this. If a man is warned of the result of the denial of truth, and has the bravado to respond insolently, it is because, being well placed in the world, he thinks that he need not fear the scourge of God. Indeed, he imagines he is exempt from divine retribution. And the more daring ones, such as he, challenge God’s messenger and say, ‘If you are truthful, bring down upon us God’s wrath, and let us see.’ They do not understand that if God vents His anger, it will be on them and not on anyone else.