Transliteration:( In tadʿūhum lā yasmaʿū duʿāʾakum wa law samiʿū mas tajaabū lakum; wa Yawma al-Qiyāmati yakfurūna bishirkikum; wa lā yunabbiʾuka mislu khabīr )
"If you invoke them, they will not listen [51] to you, and even if they hear, they cannot grant [52] your wish. And on the Day of Judgement, they will deny [53] your associating in their worship. And none can inform [54] you like the One Who is All Aware."
This refers to lifeless things such as stones, water, trees, the moon, the sun, etc. These objects cannot hear or respond, highlighting the futility of idol worship.
These things are inanimate and devoid of power. Being lifeless and non-conscious, they cannot fulfill any wishes, regardless of being invoked.
This statement is directed specifically at idols, not at Prophets or saints. Prophets and saints have been granted hearing and the ability to respond by Allah’s will. That is why we send salutations to the Holy Prophet ﷺ, who hears and replies by Allah’s permission.
This emphasizes that only Allah Almighty possesses complete knowledge of both worlds—the present and the unseen.
No one else can inform with such certainty about the fate of believers and polytheists.
The example here is in the perfection of informing, not in being comparable to Allah, for He Himself says:
"There is nothing like unto Him."
The tafsir of Surah Fatir verse 14 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Fatir ayat 13 which provides the complete commentary from verse 13 through 14.
(35:14) If you call upon them, they cannot hear your prayer. And if they hear it, they cannot answer it.[33] On the Day of Resurrection they will disown you for associating others with Allah in His Divinity.[34] No one can inform you of the truth save the All-Aware.[35]
33. This does not mean that they cannot tell aloud, in answer to your prayer whether your prayer has been accepted or not, but it means that they cannot take any action on your supplications. If a person sends his application to someone who is not a ruler, his application miscarries. For, the person to whom it has been sent, who has no authority whatever: he can neither reject it nor accept it. However, if the same application is sent to the one who is really a ruler, one or the other action will certainly be taken on it.
34. That is, they will plainly say: We had never told them that we are Allah’s associates and that they should worship us. On the contrary, we were not at all aware that they regarded us as Allah’s associates and were invoking us for help. None of their prayers has reached us, nor has any of their gifts and offerings.
35. “All-Knower”: Allah Almighty Himself. It means this: The other person can at the most refine shirk and prove the powerlessness of the gods of the polytheists by rational arguments only, but We are directly aware of the absolute truth. We are telling you, on the basis of knowledge, that all those whom the people believe to be possessing some powers in Our Godhead are absolutely powerless. They have no authority whatsoever by which they might do somebody good or harm. And We know this directly that on the Day of Resurrection, these gods of the mushriks will themselves refute their shirk.
[1247]- Of them with Allāh or your worship of them.
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