وَمَا يَسْتَوِى ٱلْأَحْيَآءُ وَلَا ٱلْأَمْوَٰتُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۖ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍ مَّن فِى ٱلْقُبُورِ
Wa maa yastawil ahyaaa'u wa lal amwaat; innal laaha yusmi'u mai yashaaa'u wa maaa anta bimusi'im man fil quboor
nor are the living and the dead. God makes anyone He wills hear [His message]: you cannot make those in their graves hear.
Nor are the living and the dead alike. God makes whom he wills hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear.
The four contrasts running from verse 19 close the same argument: blind and seeing, dark and light, shade and scorching heat, and now living and dead. A messenger can put words into an ear, and hearing them is something God grants, which is why the very next line tells the Prophet he is only a warner. Readers have long divided over whether the graves here are meant literally or stand for the unhearing living.