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ʾa-fa-lam yasīrū fī l-ʾarḍi fa-takūna lahum qulūbun yaʿqilūna bihā ʾaw ʾādhānun yasmaʿūna bihā fa-ʾinnahā lā taʿmā l-ʾabṣāru wa-lākin taʿmā l-qulūbu llatī fī ṣ-ṣudūri
Have they not travelled through the land so that they may have hearts by which they may exercise their reason, or ears by which they may hear? Indeed, it is not the eyes that turn blind, but it is the hearts in the breasts that turn blind!
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Hajj – Verse 46
46. “Have they not traveled in the land so that they should have hearts wherewith to understand (the truth), or ears wherewith to hear (the truth)? For verily blind are not the eyes but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts.”
The experimental and scientific voyages are some worthy things which lead to the way of development of knowledge,
The reason is that the land and periods are like some classes of learning; so, those who do not take examples from them are worthy of being blamed. Worse than the blindness of eyes is the blindness of hearts which do not obtain their insight by advice and admonition.
Yes, persistence in obstinacy and hostility against the Truth naturally transforms man and takes him to a point where he can recognize the Truth neither by his intellect nor by his eyes and ears. The words in former verses were about the unjust cruel people whom were punished Divinely for their wrong actions and their cities and dwellings were destroyed. Now, in this verse, as an emphasis on this matter, the Qur’an says:
Yes, the ruined castles of the tyrants and destroyed houses of the oppressors, who once used to live in the highest degree of power, with their mute tongue, each delivers thousands of points while they are silent. These ruins are some expressive and alive books which explain the history of these nations; the explanations about the consequences of their deeds, and about their shameful evil programs and, finally, about their painful chastisement. These silent lands and the traces remained in the ruins, may cast such an exciting mood in the man’s mind that, sometimes, the study of one of them teaches man some amount of matter as much as the study of a thick book, and, regarding the repetition of history, which is the fundamental principle of men’s lives, illustrates the future before him.
Verily, the study of the works of the people of old makes the ears hearing and the eyes seeing. It may be for this very reason that, by numerous verses of the Qur’an, man has been commanded to travel in the world. This traveling must be godly and ethical, so that whatever one sees causes him to awake him and he takes a lesson and new advices from those ancient traces, such as: ’Eywan-i-mada’in, the ruined palaces of the tyrant kings and the castles of Pharaohs.
Then, in order to make the reality of this speech more clear, the Qur’an implies that there are many persons who are not apparently blind or deaf, but they are indeed blind and deaf, because it is not the outward eyes which become blind but it is their hearts which lose their insight. The holy verse continues saying:
In fact, those who lose their apparent eyes are not blind and sometimes they are some enlightened persons who are more aware than others. The true blind are those whose hearts are blind and do not perceive the Truth. The holy Prophet (S) in a tradition said:
“The worst blindness is the blindness of the heart.”
And
“The utmost blindness of the blindness is the blindness of the heart.” 21
Another narration, recorded in the book entitled:
“Qawali-yul-La’ali”, indicates that the Prophet (S) said:
“When Allah intends to do a favour to a servant, He causes the eye of his heart to open by which he can see whatever was concealed to him.” 22
We know that man’s heart is merely a pump for the circulation of the blood; then how have the hearts in the breasts been attributed to comprehending the facts? The answer to this question has been explained vastly in Al-Mizan, vol. 14, pp. 392-393 and Tafsir-i-Nimunah, vol. 1, Surah Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 7, the shortened of which is as follows: One of the meanings of the Qur’anic word /qalb/ (heart) is ‘wisdom’, and one of the meanings of the Arabic word /sadr/ (chest) in the Qur’an is ‘the essence and nature of man’.
Moreover, the heart is the symbol of man’s affections, and whenever something of affections, which is often the origin of movement, appears in the spirit of man, its first effect affects on his very physical heart; the pulsation of the heart changes, the blood reaches all parts and particles of the body which gives it a new joy and power. Therefore, when the spiritual moods are attributed to the heart, it is because their first place of appearance in the man’s body is his heart.
It is interesting that in the abovementioned verse, all man’s perceptions have been attributed to the heart (wisdom) and ears. This implies that for comprehending the facts, there are only two ways; either man must have something from his own and in his own spirit by which he personally analyses the matters and gets the necessary results; or he should listen to the advice of the kind advisers, the guides of the way, the Divine prophets and the men of the truth, or he can utilize both of them to obtain the facts.23
Footnotes