Al-Balad · Makki · ayah 8 of 20

Al-Balad 90:8

أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُۥ عَيْنَيْنِ

“Have We not made for him two eyes?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The man who thought no one saw him is asked a simple question about his own face: who gave you the eyes you see with?

A reflection

'My eye', said the dealer

At an auction house, a dealer spots a forgery from across the room. The brushwork is wrong, he says, and the colours too clean. Colleagues ask how he knew. He taps his temple and smiles. 'I have the eye.'

He is not wrong about the skill. He is only wrong about the ownership.

The ayah before asked: does he think no one saw him? Now comes the reply, as a question of its own. 'Did We not make for him two eyes?' The man who imagined he was unseen is reminded where his own seeing came from.

One classical writer draws out the argument hidden in the question. The One who gave him eyes to see with, is He not more entitled to seeing? How could the Giver of sight be unable to see? Whatever perfection a creature has is drawn from the perfection of the One who made it.

That is where the ego quietly shrinks. We speak of 'my eye' for colour, 'my eye' for talent, 'my eye' for a good deal. We take credit for our perception as if we had designed it. But no one has ever built their own eyes. Every glance we are proud of was lent.

Someone might ask whether it is arrogant for God to remind people of what He gave them. The commentators answer that the question is meant to draw out a 'yes'. It is a question of confirmation. One early scholar put it plainly: Allah's blessings are all around you, and He makes you acknowledge them so that you will give thanks.

He needs nothing from that thanks. He is free of need (35:15). But a person who never acknowledges a gift becomes someone who believes he made it himself. That is exactly the man in this surah: proud of his wealth, sure no one could touch him, sure no one saw.

The dealer at the auction does have a gift. The ayah invites him to say whose it is.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.