Tragedy to be denied sacred books — are you listening? (5)
I believe the answer is:
hello
'are you listening?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'tragedy to be denied' is the wordplay.
'tragedy' becomes 'othello' (I've seen this before).
'be denied' suggests deleting specific letters.
'othello' with 'to' taken out is 'HELLO'.
'sacred books' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hello that I've seen before include "Surprised cry" , "opener?" , "Look at that" , "Greeting - celebrity magazine" , "Meeting greeting" .)