Quran Universe
2:171

وَمَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِي يَنۡعِقُ بِمَا لَا يَسۡمَعُ إِلَّا دُعَآءٗ وَنِدَآءٗۚ صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡيٞ فَهُمۡ لَا يَعۡقِلُونَ

Wamathalu allatheena kafaroo kamathali allathee yanAAiqu bima la yasmaAAu illa duAAaan wanidaan summun bukmun AAumyun fahum la yaAAqiloona

The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries cattle or sheep - deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.

Word by word
  1. وَمَثَلُAnd (the) example
  2. ٱلَّذِينَ(of) those who
  3. كَفَرُواْdisbelieve [d]
  4. كَمَثَلِ(is) like (the) example
  5. ٱلَّذِي(of) the one who
  6. يَنۡعِقُshouts
  7. بِمَاat what
  8. لَاnot
  9. يَسۡمَعُ(does) hear
  10. إِلَّاexcept
  11. دُعَآءٗcalls
  12. وَنِدَآءٗۚand cries
  13. صُمُّۢdeaf
  14. بُكۡمٌdumb
  15. عُمۡيٞ(and) blind
  16. فَهُمۡ[so] they
  17. لَا(do) not
  18. يَعۡقِلُونَunderstand
Al-Baqarah · 2:171Madinah

Hearing the call but catching only noise.

When words reach the ears but not the heart

The parable
the shepherdcalls out
to
the flockhears only sounds
deaf, mute, blindto the truth
Real hearing
I heard itthe sound arrived
I understood itand it changed me

Ibn Kathir explains the parable: like animals that hear the shepherd but only catch the sounds, not the meaning. Deaf, because they do not hear the truth. Mute, because they do not say it. Blind, because they do not see its path.

The Friday talk plays while you check your phone. The Quran recitation runs in the car as background. Your mother's advice comes in one ear. Sound arrives every day. Meaning only arrives when you lean in.

I hear plenty of reminders, so I am fine.

Hearing the call is not the same as taking it in.

Try this

Listen to one short reminder today with the phone face down, start to finish.

Related16:60
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 2:170)

And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those (flock of sheep) that hear nothing but calls and cries. (They are) deaf, dumb and blind. So they do not understand (170)

The Polytheist imitates Other Polytheists

Allah states that if the disbelievers and polytheists are called to follow what Allah has revealed to His Messenger ﷺ and abandon the practices of misguidance and ignorance that they indulge in, they will say, "Rather. We shall follow what we found our fathers following," meaning, worshipping the idols and the false deities. Allah criticized their reasoning:

أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ

((Would they do that!) even though their fathers), meaning, those whom they follow and whose practices they imitate, and:

 لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ

(...did not understand anything nor were they guided?) meaning, they had no sound understanding or guidance. Ibn Ishaq reported that Ibn 'Abbas said that this was revealed about a group of Jews whom Allah's Messenger ﷺ called to Islam, but they refused, saying, "Rather, we shall follow what we found our forefathers following." So Allah revealed this Ayah (2:170) above."

The Disbeliever is just like an Animal

Allah then made a parable of the disbelievers, just as He said in another Ayah:

لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ مَثَلُ السَّوْءِ

(For those who believe not in the Hereafter is an evil description.)(16:60)

Similarly, Allah said here (2:171 above)

وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا

(And the example of those who disbelieve...) meaning, in their injustice, misguidance and ignorance, they are just like wandering animals, not understanding what they are told; if the shepherd heralds them or calls them to what benefits them, they would not understand what is actually being said to them, for they only hear unintelligible sounds. This is what is reported from Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Al-'Aliyah, Mujahid, 'Ikrimah, 'Ata', Al-Hasan, Qatadah, 'Ata' Al-Khurasani and Ar-Rabi' bin Anas.

صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْيٌ

(They are deaf, dumb, and blind.) means, they are deaf, as they do not hear the truth; mute, as they do not utter it; and blind, as they do not see or recognize its path and way.

فَهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ

(So they do not understand.) means, they do not comprehend or understand anything.