The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 122
CH. 11 HŪD PT. 12 الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خُلِدُونَ these are the inmates of Heaven; therein shall they abide. 1405 مَثَلُ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ كَال على وَالْاَصَ The case of the two parties. 25 كَالْأَعْلَى b is like the case of the blind and وَالْبَصِيرِ وَالسَّمِيعِ هَلْ يَسْتَوِينِ the deaf, and the seeing and the مَثَلًا أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ hearing. Is the case of the two alike? Will you not then understand?1406 & 1405. Important Words: اخبتوا "13:17; 35:20-21. (humbled themselves) 1S derived from They say meaning, the mention of him or it was or became concealed, i. e. he or it Iwas or became obscure and of no repute or became concealed. means, he was or became lowly, humble or submissive in heart and obedient to God; or he humbled or abased himself to his Lord; or he trusted his Lord. (khabtun) means, a low or depressed tract of land; or a wide and low tract of ground; or a soft tract of ground which is easy to walk through (Lane). Commentary: The verse makes it clear that in order to attain to the highest stages of spiritual progress, mere faith and good works are not sufficient; perfect conviction, complete submission and full trust in God and sincere love for Him are also essential. Just as a child is happy and satisfied only when it is in the lap of its mother, similarly he who desires to make real spiritual progress should humble himself before God, place complete trust in Him and always turn to Him for help. 1406. Commentary: This verse beautifully contrasts faith and disbelief. A believer is here represented as one who is in perfect possession of the faculties of sight and hearing, while the disbeliever is likened to a blind and deaf man. Certainly there is a world of difference between them. The epithets "blind" and "deaf" for disbelievers have not been used by way of abuse, but are meant to throw light on the real nature of disbelief. The difference between a spiritually blind man and one who can see is that the former cannot see the spiritual light that comes from God, while the latter can. Similarly, whereas the former gropes, stumbles and falters on the way to his destination, the latter sees his way clear to it and reaches it directly. Moreover, a blind man cannot distinguish a friend from a foe, and might mistake one for the other, while the seeing man can never make such a mistake. 1330 Similar differences exist between those who follow a true religion and those who reject it. The follower of a true religion knows the Will of God,