The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 142
CH. 20 ṬĀHĀ 126. He will say, 'My Lord, why hast Thou raised me up blind, while I possessed sight before?" t PT. 16 قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَ بَصِيرًا قَالَ كَذلِكَ أَتَتْكَ أَيْتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا God will say, “Thus it was. 1127 qjjatajisje وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسى to be; Our Signs came to thee and thou didst disregard them and in like manner wilt thou be disregarded this day. '2334 person who consigns God to oblivion in this life and leads a life which obstructs or impedes his spiritual development and growth and thus deprives himself of heavenly light will be born blind at the time of his second birth in the afterlife. This will be because his soul in this life which serves as a body for the much more spiritually developed soul in the next world had become blind on account of his having led a sinful and depraved life in this world. This is one meaning of the verse. It may have another interpretation. a (life) signifies the basis of human life and it is not only physical amenities and comforts on which human life depends but other innumerable things also contribute to its sustenance and to man's social, moral and spiritual development. Of these things those people who reject Divine teaching remain deprived and thus they lead a difficult life, full of strains and stresses. Moreover, the sphere of action of the rejecters of Divine teaching is very narrow and limited because they have no grand and great goal before them, as it is belief in Divine attributes and the development by man of these attributes in his person that help to broaden his vision. This is why the Prophets of God and His Elect stand on a much higher moral plane than the votaries of philosophy. 2334. Commentary: In answer to the disbeliever's protestation as to why he was raised up blind while he was possessed of sight in the former life, God would say that he had become spiritually blind in that world on account of his having led a life of disbelief and sin, and as his soul was to serve as a body for another much more spiritually developed soul in the afterlife, therefore he was born blind in the Hereafter. 2056 The verse possesses another interpretation: As a disbeliever does not develop within himself divine attributes and remains a stranger to them, on the Day of Resurrection when those attributes will be manifested in their full splendour and glory, he being stranger to them— will not be able to recognize them and will thus stand like a blind man, having had no recollection or remembrance of them.