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wa-huwa lladhī ʾanshaʾa lakumu s-samʿa wa-l-ʾabṣāra wa-l-ʾafʾidata qalīlan mā tashkurūna
It is He who made for you hearing, eyesight, and hearts. Little do you thank.
— Ali Quli Qarai
23Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنونVerse 78 of 118
The Believers23. Al-Mu’minūnالمؤمنون
Al Mu’minūn
The Believers
MeccanVerse 78 of 118
Surah al-Mu’minun - Verses 78-79
78. “He it is Who produced for you hearing, and eyes, and hearts (minds); (very) little it is what you give thanks.”
79. “And He it is Who multiplied you in the earth, and unto Him you shall be mustered.”
Remembrance of Divine Blessings often paves the way for gnosis and thanksgiving. Therefore, The Holy Qur’an tries to arouse this sense of thanksgiving by mentioning the Divine blessings. The verse says:
“He it is Who produced for you hearing, and eyes, and hearts (minds); (very) little it is what you give thanks.”
The emphasis is put on these three things, ‘hearing, sight and understanding’, because they are the main means of gnosis. Physical phenomena are mostly perceived through the ear and eye. Mental issues are understood through the mind. To comprehend how important the senses of vision and audition are, it will be enough to imagine the state that man would be in if these senses were lost, how limited his world would be, how empty of light and awareness!
By losing these senses, he might even lose other faculties under his control, such as the ability to speak, which is assisted in its function through audition and acts as a means of communicating with others. (Those who are congenitally deaf are usually always impaired of speech as a consequence.) Thus, these two senses are the keys to the world of perceptible things. The mind, however, is the key to the metaphysical world, and it criticizes, concludes, generalizes, and analyzes the data provided by those two senses.
Should not those who do not thank Allah for these great means of knowledge be blamed and justly punished? Does not contemplating the intricacies of these three faculties suffice to make man familiar with his Creator? It is obvious why the blessings of the ear and eye precede that of the understanding. But why does the blessing of the ear come before that of the eye? Scientific research has shown that the ear of a newborn starts to function before its eyes begin to do so.
This is because the environment of the womb is without light and the eyes can see nothing. The ear is not the same. The fetus can hear while in the womb and is familiar with the sound of its mother’s heart and even her voice. The mention of these three invaluable favours motivates us to seek knowledge of the One Who has granted them to us. Some of the scholars of religion say that such knowledge leads us to thanking Him for these gifts, which is the basis for the rational obligation of knowing Allah.
The next verse speaks of one of the most important signs of Allah, which is the creation of man from the earth:
“And He it is Who multiplied you in the earth...”
And, because the human being is made of earth, he will return to it, and will be raised up and then will be mustered unto Him. The verse continues saying:
“...and unto Him you shall be mustered.”
If we ponder over the fact that we are made of earth, it will be enough for us, the mortals, to know the Giver of Existence and understand the possibility of the Resurrection.