'Abasa · Makki · ayah 8 of 42

'Abasa 80:8

وَأَمَّا مَن جَآءَكَ يَسْعَىٰ

“But as for he who came to you striving [for knowledge]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah records not only that a blind man came, but how he walked: quickly, earnestly, towards the one who could teach him.

A reflection

Walking fast, short of a run

The Quran could have said simply 'the one who came to you'. It adds a verb that describes his gait: yasʿā. The lexicons give its first picture plainly, and it is well established. Saʿy is walking fast, short of a full run. It is the pace of someone with somewhere to be and no time to lose, who still has not broken into a sprint.

From that brisk walk the word widened to mean any earnest effort. The Arabs called men who paid blood-money to end tribal feuds suʿāt, strivers, because of their efforts to make peace. A family's noble deeds were its masāʿī. Everything a person works for is his saʿy.

The most famous saʿy in history belongs to a mother. Hajar, left with her baby in a dry valley, went back and forth between two hills looking for water. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'That is the saʿy of the people between them' (Sahih al-Bukhari). Every pilgrim since has walked her walk, hurrying where she hurried. Her saʿy was not panic. It was a mother's effort, joined to trust, and Allah answered it with a spring of water.

Now put the blind man into that company. He did not stroll to the Prophet ﷺ. He came quickly, with purpose, the sources say, seeking the guidance and goodness that the Prophet ﷺ had. And he did it without sight.

Picture a man in a suit crossing a station concourse at a quarter to seven. He is walking very fast, not quite running, his bag held against his side. He is not late for a meeting. The last train that gets him home before his children's bedtime leaves in four minutes. Everyone who sees his walk knows it is carrying something he loves.

That is what yasʿā carries. It is not just speed. It is love made visible in a person's step. The blind man's walk told anyone watching what he valued.

Here is a quiet question for us. What do we walk fast towards? Most of us have a saʿy: a deadline, a sale, a match, a person. Allah noticed, and recorded, the pace at which this man came to learn. What would He record about the pace at which we come?

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.