whose verses are explained in detail—an Arabic Quran for people who know, bringing good news and warning. Yet most of them turn away, so they do not listen.”

There are many similar passages. Concerning those who neither understand His verses nor reflect upon them, He says:

“Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear. But even if He had made them hear, they would have turned away in aversion.”

Thus He censures them for not understanding, and because, even if they understood, they would not act upon what they knew. The Most High says:

“Do not be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ but do not listen. Indeed, the worst of living creatures in Allah’s sight are the deaf and dumb who do not reason. Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear.”

And He says:

“And those who, when reminded of their Lord’s verses, do not fall upon them deaf and blind.”

Ibn Qutayba said: “They did not disregard them, as though they were deaf and had not heard them, [or blind and] had not seen them.”

Another scholar of Arabic said: “They did not remain in their former state, as though they had neither heard nor seen, even though they had not actually fallen down. The Arabs say, ‘I insulted so-and-so, and he stood weeping, sat lamenting, turned to apologize, and went on boasting,’ even though he neither stood nor sat.”

I say: There is wisdom in His use, glorified be He, of the expression ‘falling down’ rather than another expression. For if they fell down while deaf and blind, that would not be praiseworthy, but blameworthy. How much more so if they were deaf and blind without falling down!

Two things, then, are essential: one must fall down in prostration, and one must hear and see the light and guidance contained in His verses