Transliteration:( Wa mā yastawī al-aḥyāʾu wa lā al-amwāt; inna Allāha yusmiʿu man yashāʾu wa mā anta bimusmiʿin man fī alqubūr )
"And the living and the dead can never be equal [67]. Indeed, Allah causes him to hear whom [68] He pleases, but you cannot make those who are lying in their graves [69] to hear."
Here, the “living” refers to the believers, while the “dead” refers to the disbelievers.
The verse makes clear that those with faith and spiritual insight are not equal to those who are spiritually lifeless.
If Allah Almighty wills, He can grant His chosen servants extraordinary hearing, like Hazrat Sulaiman (عليه السلام) who could hear an ant’s voice from miles away.
Likewise, if He wills, He can make someone deaf to even loud sounds, rendering them completely unaware.
He has full control over who hears and who is veiled.
The “those lying in graves” metaphorically refers to disbelievers.
However, the actual dead can hear by Allah's will. That is why:
Greeting the dead is Sunnah.
In every Salah, greetings are extended to the Holy Prophet ﷺ, because he is alive and aware.
Hazrat Saleh and Hazrat Shuaib (عليهما السلام) spoke to destroyed nations, and they responded.
Allah says elsewhere:
"You only make those to hear who believe in Our signs." (Surah An-Naml, 27:81)
This proves that true listening is tied to faith and spiritual openness.
The tafsir of Surah Fatir verse 22 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Fatir ayat 19 which provides the complete commentary from verse 19 through 26.
(35:22) nor are the living and the dead alike.[42] Allah makes to hear whomsoever He wishes, but you, (O Prophet), cannot cause to hear those who are in their graves.[43]
42. In these comparisons the present and the future of a believer and a disbeliever have been contrasted. There is a person who has closed his eyes to the realities and does not care to see as to what truth the whole system of the universe and his own existence itself are pointing. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who clearly sees that everything outside and inside himself bears evidence to the Unity of God and to man’s answerability before him. There is a person, who is wandering blindly in the superstitions of ignorance and the darkness of presumptions and speculations, and is not inclined to benefit by the light of the candle lit by the Prophet. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who, as soon as the light spread by the Prophet appears before him, comes to realize that all the ways being followed by the polytheists and the disbelievers and the atheists lead to destruction, and the way to success is only that which has been shown by the Messenger of God. Now how can it be possible that the attitude of the two persons be the same in the world and the two may follow one and the same path together? And how can this also be possible, either that the two should meet the same end and should both end up in the dust after death? Neither should one be punished for his wrongdoings, nor the other be rewarded for his righteous conduct. The sentence, “the cool shade and the heat of the sun are not alike” points to the same fate. The one will be provided shelter under the shade of Allah’s mercy and the other will burn in the fire of Hell. Thus, the notions that the two will ultimately meet the same end, is utterly false. In the end, the believer has been likened to the living and the stubborn disbeliever to the dead. That is, the believer is he whose feeling, understanding and perception are alive and whose conscience is making him aware of the distinction between the good and the evil every moment. Contrary to this, the person who has been, wholly lost in the prejudices of disbelief is even worse than the blind person who is wandering about in darkness. Nay, he is like a dead person who has no sense or feeling left in him.
43. That is, as for the powers of Allah, they are unlimited. He can even make the stones to hear. But it is not within the power of the Messenger to make those people to listen to him whose consciences have become dead and whose ears deaf to every call to the truth. He can only make those people to hear him, who are inclined to listen to every reasonable thing.
[1249]- The four comparisons given by Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) in verses 19-22 are those of the believer and unbeliever, various kinds of misbelief and (true) belief, Paradise and Hellfire, and those receptive to guidance and those unreceptive.
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