Tafsir of An-Naml 27:79

He commanded him to rely upon Allah and to disregard the enemies of the religion. He justified this reliance by stating that he is upon the manifest truth, to which neither doubt nor conjecture can attach. This contains an explanation that the possessor of the truth is worthy of trusting in Allah’s handiwork and His support, and that one like him shall not be forsaken.

If you ask: "Does 'Indeed, you cannot make the dead hear' serve as another justification for this reliance? What is the logic behind that?"

I say: The logic is that the command to rely upon Allah was made a consequence of what used to distress the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) regarding the polytheists and the People of the Scripture—namely, their refusal to follow him and their accompanying that with harm and enmity. It was therefore appropriate to justify the reliance of one like him by noting that their following him was a matter he had despaired of. Nothing remained but to seek victory over them due to their enmity and to suffice against their evils and harms.

They were likened to the dead, even though they were alive and sound of sense, because when they heard the verses of Allah recited to them, they were like funnels for speech—their ears did not retain it, and their hearing was as if it were no hearing at all. Because the benefit of hearing was negated, their state was like that of the dead who have lost the faculty of hearing. Likewise, they were likened to the deaf who, when shouted at, do not hear. They were also likened to the blind, as they stray from the path, and no one can remove that from them or make them guided, clear-sighted people except Allah, the Almighty and Exalted.

If you ask: "What is the meaning of His saying: 'when they turn their backs in retreat'?"

I say: It is an emphasis on the state of the deaf person, for when he distances himself from the caller by turning his back in retreat, he is even further from perceiving the sound.

It has been recited: wa-lā yusmiʿu al-ṣumm (the deaf do not hear) and wa-mā anta bi-hādi al-ʿumy (and you are not the guide of the blind), according to the original grammatical form. Also: wa-tahdī al-ʿumy. From Ibn Mas‘ud: wa-mā anta bi-hādi al-ʿumy (and you are not one to guide the blind). Hadāhu (he guided him) away from misguidance is like saying: saqāhu ʿan al-ʿaymah (he quenched his thirst away from the thirst), meaning: he distanced him from it by giving him water, just as he distanced him from misguidance by means of guidance.

"You can only make hear..." meaning: Your making them hear is of no benefit except to those whom Allah knows will believe in His verses—that is, they will affirm them.

"...and they are Muslims [submitting]" meaning: sincere, from His saying: "Yes, whoever submits his face to Allah" (Al-Baqarah: 112), meaning: he has made it sound for Allah, purely for Him.