[879] They play on words. It could be that they are saying that a person of your status cannot be told to listen in spite of himself (cf. Muḥyī ad-Dīn Darwīsh, Iʿrāb al-Qur’ān wa Bayānuhu), or they pray that he (ﷺ) becomes deaf or even dies so that he loses his sense of hearing (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr).
[880] One word for seeking the Prophet’s permission, i.e. rāʿinā (lend us your ear), is replaced by another, i.e. unẓurnā (bear with us), as rāʿinā could be twisted and used derogatorily to mean something else which is inappropriate (from ruʿūnah, foolishness). Some of the Madinan Jews used to address the Prophet (ﷺ) by subtly twisting their tongues when uttering rāʿinā to mean: “You are foolish!” (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).