وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا صُمٌّ وَبُكْمٌ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ مَنْ يَشَإِ اللَّهُ يُضْلِلْهُ وَمَنْ يَشَأْ يَجْعَلْهُ عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ ﴿۳۹﴾ قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمُ السَّاعَةُ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ﴿۴۰﴾ بَلْ إِيَّاهُ تَدْعُونَ فَيَكْشِفُ مَا تَدْعُونَ إِلَيْهِ إِنْ شَاءَ وَتَنْسَوْنَ مَا تُشْرِكُونَ ﴿۴۱﴾
﴾39﴿ Wallazeena kazzaboo bi Aayaatinaa summunw wa bukmun fiz zulumaat; mai yasha il laahu yudlillhu; wa mai yashaa yaj'alhu 'alaa Siraatim Mustaqeem
﴾41﴿ Bal iyyaahu tad'oona fa yakshifu maa tad'oona ilaihi in shaaa'a wa tansawna maa tushrikoon
﴾39﴿ And those who deny Our signs—they are deaf, dumb, and in darkness. Whomever Allah wills, He lets go astray, and whomever He wills, He sets firmly upon the straight path.
﴾40﴿ Say, “Tell me—if the punishment of Allah comes to you, or the Hour (of Judgment) comes to you, would you call upon anyone other than Allah, if you are truthful?”
﴾41﴿ No! Rather, you will call upon Allah alone, and He will remove what you call upon Him to remove—if He wills—and you will forget whatever partners you used to associate with Him.
[39] This is a warning: animals and birds are guided toward what benefits them, yet the disbelievers do not accept guidance.
In the previous verse, the all-encompassing knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, was mentioned—so in this verse, His all-encompassing will (mashī’ah) is highlighted.
(Fī al-ẓulumāt) – the fact that it is not connected (in grammatical construction) indicates that being merely deaf and mute (ṣummun wa bukmun) is not the only reason they are misguided.
Rather, their entry into various layers of darkness (ignorance, disbelief, stubbornness) further deepens their misguidance.
[40] In this verse, there is another rational proof and a refutation of shirk fī ad-du‘ā (associating partners with Allah in supplication).
It highlights the ignorance of the polytheists: despite the fact that in times of hardship they call solely upon Allah, the Exalted, they still associate others with Him afterward.
This is similar to what is mentioned in Surah Yunus (10:22) and Surah Al-Isra (17:67).
(A-ra’aytakum) – the hamzah is for rhetorical amazement, and ra’ayta means "Did you see?" or "Do you realize?" in the sense of abṣarta (have you seen?) or ʿarafta (have you known?).
Its object is omitted, and tā is the subject pronoun, while kum is the second-person plural addressed, not requiring grammatical parsing—it's for indicating the state.
The meaning is: “Have you understood or noticed this strange condition? Then inform me about it.”
(Ṣādiqīn) – refers to whether they (the idols) are truly divine (ālihah) as you claim.
[41] From this it becomes clear that even the polytheists, in certain situations, call upon Allah, the Exalted, and say “help us” or make supplications to Him.
(Iyyāhu tadʿūn) – means: “You call upon Him alone”—exclusively, as in other verses where the phrase mukhlisīn (sincere in faith) is used, such as in Surah Yā Sīn (36:22).
(Fayakshif) – indicates that Allah, the Exalted, sometimes accepts the supplication of a polytheist due to their helplessness and desperation, but this is as a form of test and trial for them.