Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 78 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:78

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

“And it is He who produced for you hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]; little are you grateful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The people struck dumb at the last door had been given ears, eyes and burning hearts precisely so they would never stand there.

A reflection

Given to the very people who fell silent

A sound engineer has spent a fortune on a studio microphone. One evening, through a closed door and over the noise of the mixing desk, he hears his small daughter call his name. He hears it at once, and knows whose voice it is. No machine he owns can do that.

This ayah follows directly after the door of despair. The people left speechless there were not short of equipment. Huwa alladhī anshaʾa lakum: He is the One who brought forth for you hearing, sight and hearts.

The lexicons picture anshaʾa as raising something up in stages. A cloud lifts over the horizon; a child grows to a man's height. Nobody raised their own eyes. Nobody designed their own ear.

That is where the ego shrinks. The faculties we use to judge, argue and even to doubt were issued to us. Pride in a sharp mind is pride in a loan.

One major commentator reads the ayah as an argument to those who denied the resurrection. The One who first brought these faculties out of nothing will hardly find it hard to bring them back. Another notes the link with what came before. Those who will not use these faculties for what they were made for are like people who never had them (46:26).

Allah gains nothing from our recognising this. The gift was lakum, for you. The loss, if the gift is wasted, is also yours.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.