al-Balad

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ عَيْنَيْنِ

وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ

وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ

8. “Have We not made for him two eyes?"
9. “And a tongue and two lips?"
10. “And showed him the two ways (of good and evil)?"

The Gifts of Eyes, Tongue and Guidance!

In the former verses the discussion was about the pride and negligence of neglectful Man, but in the following verses, a part of the greatest material and spiritual gifts of Allah to Man is described, in order to break his pride and negligence, on the one hand, and to make him think about the Creator of these gifts and on the other hand; for stirring the sense of gratitude inside his soul, which sends him forth to the knowledge of Allah.

Thus, in these short sentences, three great material gifts and a great spiritual gift, all which are from the most important divine gifts, are pointed out. The gifts of eyes, tongue and lips are on one side, and the gift of knowledge and guidance is on the other side. (It should be noted that the term /najd/ originally means 'an open highway' and here /najdayn/, in contrast with /tihamah/ 'low land ', is to be understood as 'the two highways of good and evil ').

For the importance of the above gifts it is enough to know that the eyes are the most important means by which to communicate with the outside world. The wonder of the eyes is such that makes Man humiliate himself in front of the Creator of them. Each of the seven parts of the eye; the sclerotic cornea, choroid, iris, dermoid, aqueous humor, vitreous humor, and retina has a wonderful, special and delicate structure in which the laws of light and mirrors, physically and chemically, are so precisely coordinated that the most modern cameras are worthless in comparison to them.

In fact if there were nothing in the world except Man and of all parts of his body only his eye was studied, its wonders would be enough to recognize the greatness of the knowledge and power of Allah. Next, the tongue is referred to, which is the most important means of speech and speech itself is the most important means of communication for human beings. It is with language that humans are able to convey the experience and information of one nation to another, or from one generation to another one. If it were not so, Man could never develop so well in knowledge, science, and civilization both in material and spiritual affairs.

Then, the lips are mentioned. They have an effective function in speech because many sounds and phonemes, in language, are produced by the lips. Besides, the lips are useful in eating foods, preserving the moisture of the mouth, and drinking water. If they were not so, the function of eating and drinking would be difficult for Man, and even his face, with water flowing out of his mouth and the absence of some phonemes in his speech, would be in a disgraceful state.

We know that the first steps in learning many facts are doubled with the help of eyesight and language. Therefore, the gifts of reasoning and guidance, which are natural and intellectual, are pointed out. The verse can even cover 'religious guidance' which is introduced by prophets and Saints. In fact, Allah has given us eyesight and the light; i.e. guidance to use them which enables us to discover what is right and what is wrong and to know them and then we choose between them, ourselves. Thus, if we go the wrong way and stray we deserve the fruits of our decision.

The sentence:

besides stating Man's free will, regarding. 'his way' denotes that going the right way is not free from difficulties and toil, as even climbing the high lands has some difficulties, doing wrong has some troubles, too. So, Man should try to choose the right way. It is Man, himself, who chooses the way for which he can use his eyes and tongue in a lawful direction or an unlawful one and then, follows the good way or the evil one. That is why the Prophet (S), in a tradition has said:

"Allah told mankind:

‘O children of Adam! If your tongue wants to make you commit sin, I have supplied you with two lips to control it, and if your eyes are going to attract you to something unlawful, two eyelids are with you; close them!’” ⁸

Thus, Allah has given Man the means of controlling these gifts which is one of the great blessings that He has bestowed on him. It is noteworthy that in the above verses, when speaking of the tongue, the lips are mentioned but, in talking about the eyes, eyelids are not referred to. Apparently, it is for two reasons: the first is that the function of the lips in eating, drinking and speaking is more important than the function of the eyelids with the eyes; and the second is that the ability to control the tongue is more effective than that of the eyes.