This refers to the hypocrites previously mentioned; Allah has distanced them from Himself or from goodness.

Thus, He has deafened them so they do not hear the clear speech, and He has blinded them so they do not follow the straight path.

There is a fine arrangement here: Since they listened to the intellectual discourse but did not comprehend it, they are, in relation to it, deafened by Allah. When commanded to act, they abandoned the command, offering excuses that it would cause corruption and sever kinship ties—actions they themselves used to engage in when forbidden. They did not recognize their own state and abandoned following the Prophet who commanded them toward reform and maintaining kinship. If someone commanded them toward corruption and severing ties were to call them, they would follow him. Therefore, they are blind, blinded by Allah.

There is a subtlety here: Allah Almighty said, "He has deafened them" (أَصَمَّهُمْ) without mentioning their ears. He said, "And blinded their sight" (أَعْمَى أَبْصَارَهُمْ) without saying "He blinded them." This is because the eye is the instrument of sight; if it suffers an affliction, sight does not occur. However, the ear, even if afflicted (by cutting or tearing), can still hear speech. This is because the ear was created with convolutions to increase the reverberation of the modulated air, preventing the eardrum from being struck violently, which would cause harm, just as a loud sound causes harm. Therefore, He said, "He has deafened them" (أَصَمَّهُمْ) without mentioning the ear. He said, "Blinded their sight" (أَعْمَى أَبْصَارَهُمْ) while mentioning the eye because *al-Baṣar* (sight) here means the eye itself, which is why it is pluralized as *al-Abṣār* (sights). If it were a verbal noun (masdar), it would not be pluralized. The ear was not mentioned because it has no direct role in the deafness (the state of being deafened), whereas the eye is central to sight—it *is* the entirety of it.

This is supported by the fact that when affliction is attributed to the ear in other contexts, it is named specifically, such as when Allah says, "And they say, 'Our hearts are veiled'" (Fussilat: 5), and, "As if there is a deafness in his ears" (Luqman: 7). *Al-Waqr* (deafness/heaviness) is less severe than *Ṣumm* (complete deafness), as is *Ṭarash*.

**(47:23) Will they not then contemplate the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?**