Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Fatir 35:14

Word by word

إِن تَدْعُوهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُوا۟ دُعَآءَكُمْ وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا۟ مَا ٱسْتَجَابُوا۟ لَكُمْ ۖ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يَكْفُرُونَ بِشِرْكِكُمْ ۚ وَلَا يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ

If you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard, they would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection they will deny your association. And none can inform you like [one] Aware [of all matters].

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The gods of the Idolators do not even own a Qitmir

Another aspect of His perfect power and might is that He has subjugated the night with its darkness and the day with its light. He takes from the length of the one and adds it to the shortness of the other, until they become equal. Then He takes from the latter and adds to the former, so one becomes long and the other becomes short, so they take from one another in summer and in winter.وَسَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ(And He has subjected the sun and the moon,) and the stars and planets, with their light. All of them run in their appointed courses and in the manner prescribed for them, as decreed by the Almighty, All-Knowing.كُـلٌّ يَجْرِى لاًّجَـلٍ مُّسَـمًّىeach runs its course for a term appointed. means, until the Day of Resurrection.ذَلِكُـمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّـكُمْSuch is Allah, your Lord؟

means, the One Who has done all this is the Almighty Lord besides Whom there is no other true God.وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ(And those, whom you invoke or call upon instead of Him,) means, `the idols and false gods whom you claim to be in the form of angels who are close to Allah,'مَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِن قِطْمِيرٍown not even a Qitلm0r. Ibn Abba0s, may Allah be pleased with him, Muja0hid, Ikrimah, Ata0 , Atلiyah Al- Awfi, Al-Hلasan, Qata0dah and others said, This is the thread that is attached to the pit of a date. In other words, they do not possess anything in the heavens or on earth, not even anything equivalent to this Qitلm0r.

Then Allah says:إِن تَدْعُوهُمْ لاَ يَسْمَعُواْ دُعَآءَكُمْ(If you invoke them, they hear not your call;) means, `the gods upon whom you call instead of Allah, do not hear your supplication, because they are inanimate and have no soul in them.'وَلَوْ سَمِعُواْ مَا اسْتَجَابُواْ لَكُمْ(and if (in case) they were to hear, they could not grant it to you.) means, `they are not able to do any of the things that you ask them for.'وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ يَكْفُرُونَ بِشِرْكِـكُمْAnd on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your worshipping them means, `they will disown you.' This is like the Ayat:وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لاَّ يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـفِلُونَ - وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُواْ لَهُمْ أَعْدَآءً وَكَانُواْ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَـفِرِينَ (And who is more astray than one who calls on besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls to them And when mankind are gathered, they (false deities) will become their enemies and will deny their worshipping.) (46:5-6), andوَاتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ ءالِهَةً لِّيَكُونُواْ لَهُمْ عِزّاً كَلاَّ سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَـدَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدّاً (And they have taken gods besides Allah, that they might give them honor, power and glory.

Nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents to them.) (19:81-82)وَلاَ يُنَبِّئُكَ مِثْلُ خَبِيرٍ(And none can inform you like Him Who is the All-Knower.) means, no one can tell you about the consequences of things and how they will end like the One Who is the All-Knower of them. Qatadah said, "He is referring to Himself, may He be blessed and exalted, for He undoubtedly tells the truth."

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

In the last verse: إِن تَدْعُوهُمْ لَا يَسْمَعُوا دُعَاءَكُمْ وَلَوْ سَمِعُوا مَا اسْتَجَابُوا لَكُمْ (If you call them, they do not hear your call, and even if they were to hear, they would not respond to you. - 35:14). To explain, it can be said that if you call those idols or some prophets or angels you take as god and worship them asking them to help you in distress, they will, first of all, be unable to listen to you because idols do not have the ability to listen. Though, prophets and angels have this ability, yet they are not present everywhere nor do they hear that which is said by everybody. Further on, it was said that, should they, as a matter of supposition, be able to listen, as in the case of angels and prophets, still, they would not fulfill your request, because they themselves have no control over it, and cannot intercede with Allah on behalf of anyone without His permission.

The issue of the ability of the dead to hear سماع الموتی sama`-ulmawta) has appeared earlier. The present verse neither confirms nor rejects it. Arguments and proofs relating to this issue are different. They have already been mentioned in details under the commentary on Surah Ar-Rum [ 30] (Ma` ariful-Qur an, Volume VI).

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

إن تدعوا -أيها الناس- هذه المعبودات من دون الله لا يسمعوا دعاءكم، ولو سمعوا على سبيل الفرض ما أجابوكم، ويوم القيامة يتبرؤون منكم، ولا أحد يخبرك -أيها الرسول- أصدق من الله العليم الخبير.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

ثم قال : ( إن تدعوهم لا يسمعوا دعاءكم ) يعني الآلهة التي تدعونها من دون الله لا يسمعون دعاءكم ; لأنها جماد لا أرواح فيها ( ولو سمعوا ما استجابوا لكم ) أي : لا يقدرون على ما تطلبون منها ، ( ويوم القيامة يكفرون بشرككم ) ، أي : يتبرءون منكم ، كما قال تعالى : ( ومن أضل ممن يدعو من دون الله من لا يستجيب له إلى يوم القيامة وهم عن دعائهم غافلون وإذا حشر الناس كانوا لهم أعداء وكانوا بعبادتهم كافرين ) [ الأحقاف : 5 ، 6 ] ، وقال : ( واتخذوا من دون الله آلهة ليكونوا لهم عزا كلا سيكفرون بعبادتهم ويكونون عليهم ضدا ) [ مريم : 81 ، 82 ] .وقوله : ( ولا ينبئك مثل خبير ) أي : ولا يخبرك بعواقب الأمور ومآلها وما تصير إليه ، مثل خبير بها .قال قتادة : يعني نفسه تبارك وتعالى ، فإنه أخبر بالواقع لا محالة .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.