وَلَوْ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًۭا لَّأَسْمَعَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوا۟ وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ
23
سُورَةُ الأَنفَالِ
English — Sahih International
Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear. And if He had made them hear, they would [still] have turned away, while they were refusing.
اردو — مودودی
اگر اللہ کو معلوم ہوتا کہ ان میں کچھ بھی بھلائی ہے تو وہ ضرور انہیں سُننے کی توفیق دیتا (لیکن بھلائی کے بغیر) اگر وہ ان کو سُنواتا تو وہ بے رُخی کے ساتھ منہ پھیر جاتے
Bahasa Indonesia — Kemenag
Kalau sekiranya Allah mengetahui kebaikan ada pada mereka, tentulah Allah menjadikan mereka dapat mendengar. Dan jikalau Allah menjadikan mereka dapat mendengar, niscaya mereka pasti berpaling juga, sedang mereka memalingkan diri (dari apa yang mereka dengar itu).
Ibn Kathir
The Command to obey Allah and His Messenger
Allah commands His believing servants to obey Him and His Messenger and warns them against defying him and imitating the disbelievers who reject him. Allah said,
وَلاَ تَوَلَّوْاْ عَنْهُ
(and turn not away from him...), neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade,
وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ
(while you are hearing.) after you gained knowledge of his Message,
وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْمَعُونَ
(And be not like those who say: "We have heard," but they hear not.)
Ibn Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites, who pretend to hear and obey, while in fact they do neither. Allah declares that these are the most wicked creatures among the Children of Adam,
إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِندَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ
(Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf) who do not hear the truth,
الْبُكْمُ
(and the dumb) who cannot comprehend it,
الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ
(who understand not. ) These indeed are the most wicked creatures, for every creature except them abide by the way that Allah created in them. These people were created to worship Allah, but instead disbelieved. This is why Allah equated them to animals, when He said,
وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِى يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لاَ يَسْمَعُ إِلاَّ دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً
(And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those that hear nothing but calls and cries.) 2:171, and,
أُوْلَـئِكَ كَالأَنْعَـمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْغَـفِلُونَ
(They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.) 7:179
It was also said that the Ayah (8:22) refers to some of the pagans of Quraysh from the tribe of Bani `Abd Ad-Dar, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Ibn Jarir. Muhammad bin Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to hypocrites, as we stated. There is no contradiction here, because both disbelievers and hypocrites are devoid of sound comprehension, in addition to having lost the intention to do good. Allah states here that such are those who neither have sound understanding nor good intentions, even if they have some type of reason,
وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لأَسْمَعَهُمْ
(Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen.)
He would have helped them understand. However, this did not happen because there is no goodness in such people, for Allah knows that,
وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ
(even if He had made them listen...) and allowed them to understand,
لَتَوَلَّواْ
(they would but have turned...), intentionally and out of stubbornness, even after they comprehend,
وَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ
(with aversion.), to the truth.
المُيَسَّر
ولو علم الله في هؤلاء خيرًا لأسمعهم مواعظ القرآن وعبره حتى يعقلوا عن الله عز وجل حججه وبراهينه، ولكنه علم أنه لا خير فيهم وأنهم لا يؤمنون، ولو أسمعهم -على الفرض والتقدير- لتولَّوا عن الإيمان قصدًا وعنادًا بعد فهمهم له، وهم معرضون عنه، لا التفات لهم إلى الحق بوجه من الوجوه.