Surah al-Furqān (The Criterion)

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

[Surah al-Furqān (25): verse 44]
“Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are only like livestock—rather, they are further astray from the path.” (44)

He thus likens most people to livestock. What the two groups have in common is their failure to accept guidance and submit to it. He declares most people further astray than livestock because an animal follows the guidance of its herder and keeps to the path, straying neither right nor left. Yet when the messengers call most people and show them the way, they neither respond nor follow guidance, nor do they distinguish between what harms them and what benefits them.

Livestock, however, distinguish between harmful plants and paths, which they avoid, and beneficial ones, which they prefer.

Allah Most High did not create livestock with hearts by which to reason or tongues with which to speak. He gave these people such faculties, yet they have not benefited from the minds, hearts, tongues, hearing, and sight He bestowed upon them. Thus, they are further astray than beasts. For someone who fails to find right guidance and the path despite having a guide to show him the way is further astray and worse off than someone who fails to find the way when he has no guide.