Blind versus Seeing (ʿamā × baṣīr)
ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ وَٱلْبَصِيرُ
al-aʿmā wa-l-baṣīr — the blind and the seeing
In the verses given, the roots ʿ-m-y and b-ṣ-r are repeatedly set against each other in a single verse, most often as the paired nouns al-aʿmā and al-baṣīr joined by a verb of equality or non-equality, and elsewhere as verbs, as nouns contrasted within one person (20:125), or as blindness applied to the faculty of sight itself.
In the verses given, the pair al-aʿmā wa-l-baṣīr functions as a fixed contrast. Four verses pose it as the two terms of an inequality: (6:50) asks 'Is the blind equal to the seeing?'; (13:16) repeats the same question; (35:19) and (40:58) state it declaratively, 'the blind and the seeing are not equal', with (40:58) extending the pattern to a second pair, those who have attained faith and done sound deeds versus the one who does evil. In (6:50) and (13:16) the question is followed by a call to reflect or by further unequal pairs (the darknesses and the light), so the contrast serves as an argumentative device. (11:24) expands the pair into two pairs, the blind and the deaf versus the seeing and the hearing, and asks whether the two likenesses equalize. The roots also contrast as verbs: (6:104) sets fa-man abṣara ('whoever perceives') against wa-man ʿamiya ('whoever is blind'), each with a consequence for the self; (10:43) pairs guiding al-ʿumā with the clause lā yubṣirūn ('they do not perceive'). Elsewhere the roots interact rather than stand as paired nouns: (22:46) says it is not al-abṣār that go blind (taʿmā) but the hearts; (47:23) has Allah make a group deaf and make their abṣār blind; (20:125) has a speaker gathered aʿmā while he had been baṣīran; and (5:71) describes people who repeatedly 'became blind and deaf' under a Lord who is baṣīr of what they do.
Where it occurs
- 5:71 People repeatedly 'became blind and deaf' while Allah is described as Seeing of what they do, placing the roots in the same verse without pairing them as nouns.
- 6:50 Poses the pair as a question of equality: 'Is the blind equal to the seeing?' followed by a call to reflect.
- 6:104 Contrasts the two roots as verbs: whoever perceives benefits himself, whoever is blind bears it against himself.
- 10:43 Joins guiding the blind (al-ʿumā) with the statement that they do not perceive (lā yubṣirūn).
- 11:24 Expands the pair into two likenesses: the blind and the deaf versus the seeing and the hearing, asked whether they equalize.
- 13:16 Repeats the equality question of (6:50) and sets it alongside the darknesses and the light.
- 20:125 A speaker is gathered blind though he had been seeing, contrasting the two roots as descriptions of one person across time.
- 22:46 Denies that the sights (al-abṣār) go blind and asserts that the hearts do, using the verb taʿmā with both.
- 35:19 States the inequality declaratively: the blind and the seeing are not equal.
- 40:58 States the same inequality and extends the pattern to a second unequal pair of persons.
- 47:23 Allah made deaf and blinded their perceptions (abṣārahum), the verb from ʿ-m-y acting on the noun from b-ṣ-r.
All Qur'anic expressions