Tafsir of Hud 11:24

"The likeness of the two parties is as the blind and the deaf..."

He likens the party of the disbelievers to the blind and the deaf, and the party of the believers to the one who sees and the one who hears. This is a case of laff (folding/grouping) and tibaq (antithesis).

It contains two meanings:

1. That he likens the party to two likenesses, just as Imru’ al-Qays likened the hearts of birds to dried dates (hashaf) and jujubes (‘unnab).
2. That he likens the party to one who combines both blindness and deafness, or one who combines both sight and hearing. This is on the condition that the waw (and) in "and the deaf" and "and the hearing" is for joining one attribute to another, like the saying: "The one who sets out in the morning, then the one who gains spoils, then the one who returns."

"Are they equal in likeness?" Meaning: Are the two parties equal in their similitude?

"And We certainly sent Noah to his people, [saying], 'Indeed, I am to you a clear warner. That you not worship except Allah. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a painful day.'"