Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:58
And not equal are the blind and the seeing, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds and the evildoer. Little do you remember.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the statement of the Exalted: And the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds, and the evildoer likewise. Little do you take heed (40:58)
And not equal are the blind, who sees nothing — and he is like the disbeliever (kāfir), who does not behold the proofs of Allah with his eyes so that he would reflect upon them and let himself be warned by them, and thereby come to know His oneness and His power to create whatever He wills of any matter, and believe in Him and hold Him to be true — and the seeing, who sees with his eyes what presents itself to them and what he perceives, and that is a likeness for the believer, who sees with his eyes the proofs of Allah, reflects upon them and lets himself be admonished, and knows what they point to of the oneness of their Maker, His mighty dominion, and His power to create whatever He wills. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: thus the disbeliever and the believer are not equal. ( nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds ) The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and neither are they thus equal — those who believe in Allah and His messenger, who obey their Lord — and the evildoer, who is a disbeliever toward his Lord, disobedient to Him, and who resists His command. ( Little do you take heed ) The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: little do you take heed, O people, of the proofs of Allah, so that you would let yourselves be warned and admonished. He says: if you were to remember His signs and let yourselves be admonished, then you would recognize the error of that to which you hold fast — namely your denial of the power of Allah to bring back to life whoever of His creatures has perished after their perishing, and to cause them, after their death, to return to their life; and then you would recognize the hideousness of your shirk — of those whom you make partners in the worship of your Lord.
And the Qurʾān-reciters differed in the recitation of His statement: ( tatadhakkarūn ). The majority of the reciters of Medina and Basra recited it as "yatadhakkarūn" with the yāʾ, in the form of the third-person report; and the majority of the reciters of Kufa recited it as ( tatadhakkarūn ) with the tāʾ, in the form of direct address. And the ruling concerning that is that the recitation according to both is correct.
