hearing and sights as a paired faculty
ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَٰرَ
al-samʿa wa-l-abṣāra — the hearing and the sights
In the verses given, سمع (hearing) and a sight-word recur as a fixed pair, and reading the occurrences side by side shows the pair moving through three roles: faculties Allah gives, faculties Allah seals or takes away, and faculties that bear witness against their owners.
In the verses given, سمع (a masculine singular noun, "hearing") and a sight-word—the plural أبصار in most occurrences, the singular بصر in 17:36 and 45:23—appear together as a pair in every occurrence, usually with a third member, the hearts (2:7; 6:46; 16:78; 16:108; 17:36; 23:78; 32:9; 46:26; 67:23), while in 41:20 and 41:22 the third member is the skins. Read together, the occurrences distribute the pair across three roles. First, the pair is something Allah gives: He "assigned for you the hearing, and the sights, and the hearts" (16:78), "brought into being for you" them (23:78), "made for you" them (32:9; 67:23), and "made for them" them (46:26); in 10:31 the pair is something Allah "possesses". Second, the pair is something Allah seals, stamps, or takes away: "sealed over their hearts and over their hearing" (2:7), "stamped" hearts, hearing, and sight (16:108), "sealed over his hearing" (45:23), and could "take away their hearing and their sights" (2:20) or "take your hearing and your sights" (6:46). Third, the pair bears witness: "their hearing and their sights and their skins will bear witness against them" (41:20), and in 41:22 they were not concealing themselves lest "your hearing, your sights, and your skins" bear witness against them, assuming instead that Allah does not know much of what they do. In 46:26 the gift and its failure stand in one verse: the faculties were made for them, yet "did not enrich them in anything". In the verses given, the pair is presented as given faculties whose loss is in Allah's hand and which bear witness against their owners.
Where it occurs
- 2:7 Allah seals over their hearing; a covering is over their sights.
- 2:20 Allah, if He willed, would take away their hearing and their sights.
- 6:46 A rhetorical question asks what god other than Allah could restore your hearing and sights once taken.
- 10:31 The pair is what Allah possesses, in a series of questions the addressees answer "Allah".
- 16:78 The pair, with the hearts, is assigned by Allah so that you might be grateful.
- 16:108 Allah has stamped their hearts, hearing, and sights; they are heedless.
- 17:36 The hearing and the sight (both singular here) each has always been something to be asked about.
- 23:78 Allah brought into being for you the pair and the hearts; little gratitude is shown.
- 32:9 The pair and the hearts are made for you after the fashioning and breathing of spirit; little gratitude is shown.
- 41:20 Their hearing and sights and skins will bear witness against them.
- 41:22 They did not conceal themselves lest their hearing, sights, and skins bear witness against them; they assumed Allah does not know much of what they do.
- 45:23 Allah sealed over his hearing and heart and placed a covering over his sight.
- 46:26 The pair and hearts were made for them yet did not enrich them in anything.
- 67:23 Allah made for you the pair and the hearts; little gratitude is shown.
All Qur'anic expressions