﴿ وَمَا يَسْتَوِى ٱلْأَحْيَآءُ وَلَا ٱلْأَمْوَٰتُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُسْمِعُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۖ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُسْمِعٍۢ مَّن فِى ٱلْقُبُورِ ﴾

“and neither are equal the living and the dead [of heart]. Behold, [O Muhammad,] God can make hear whomever He wills, whereas thou canst not make hear such as are [dead of heart like the dead] in their graves:”

nor are the living equal to the dead the believers and the disbelievers respectively the addition of the particle lā ‘nor’ in all three instances is for emphasis. Indeed God makes to hear whomever He will to be guided so that such a person then responds to Him by embracing faith. But you cannot make those who are in the graves to hear namely the disbelievers — whom He has likened to the dead — to hear and so respond.