Surat Al-Mulk Verse No. 10: Reading and listening
Translation of the verse 10 from Surah Al-Mulk : Number of verses 30 - - page 562 - Part 29.
﴾وَقَالُواْ لَوۡ كُنَّا نَسۡمَعُ أَوۡ نَعۡقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِيٓ أَصۡحَٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ ﴿
[ الملك: 10]
And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!"
English - Sahih International
And they will say, "If only we had been listening or reasoning, we would not be among the companions of the Blaze."
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
(67:10) They will say: 'If we had only listened and understood, *16 we would not be among the inmates of the Blazing Fire.''
Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi
*16) "Had we only listened or understood": "Had we listened to the Prophets with attention as seekers after Truth or used our intellect to understand what actually was the message they were presenting before us." Here listening has been given priority over understanding, the reason being that the pre-requisite of obtaining guidance is to listen to what the Prophet teaches (or to read if it is in the written form, like a seeker after Truth). To ponder over it in an attempt to understand the truth is secondary. Without the Prophet's guidance tnan cannot by himself reach the Truth directly by using his intellect and common sense.