sight and heart set together
لَا تَعْمَى ٱلْأَبْصَٰرُ وَلَٰكِن تَعْمَى ٱلْقُلُوبُ
lā taʿmā l-abṣāru wa-lākin taʿmā l-qulūbu — it is not the sights that go blind, but the hearts that go blind
Across these verses the roots ب ص ر and ق ل ب are repeatedly placed in the same frame — as paired faculties acted upon together, as explicitly contrasted in (22:46), and with the قلب verb applied to the sight itself in (67:4) — presenting sight as an outer faculty and the heart as an inner one, paired in what is closed, blinded, or turned.
The two roots are joined in several distinct constructions. In (2:7), (6:46), (16:108) and (45:23) the hearts and the sights (with hearing) are objects of the same divine act — sealed, stamped, covered — so that the two faculties stand as parallel things that can be closed. In (7:179) the pairing is negated function: hearts by which they do not comprehend, eyes by which they do not see. (22:46) makes the relation explicit and reverses the expected direction: it is not the sights that go blind, but the hearts within the chests — the inner faculty, not the outer one, is where blindness falls. (21:3) holds both in one scene: hearts heedlessly diverted while the onlookers see. In (3:156) the pairing is asymmetrical: anguish is placed in hearts, while Allah is named Seeing (baṣīr) of what people do — the root as a divine attribute set against the heart as the seat of human feeling. A further pattern runs through the قلب verb: in (6:110) Allah turns (nuqallibu) the inner-hearts and the sights; in (24:37) a Day is feared when the hearts and the sights will be overturned (tataqallabu); in (24:44) Allah turns (yuqallibu) the night and the day, and in that is a lesson for possessors of the sights; and in (67:4) the sight itself is told to turn back (yanqalib) and comes back worn out. In (33:10) and (59:2) the two appear on the same side of an event: sights swerve and hearts reach the throats; dread is hurled into hearts while the addressees are called possessors of insight. In the verses given, the heart is never described as seeing and the sight is never described as comprehending; the two roots mark an outer and an inner faculty whose fates are told together.
Where it occurs
- 2:7 hearts and sights listed among faculties that Allah seals or covers.
- 3:156 anguish is set in hearts while Allah is named Seeing of what people do.
- 6:46 hearing and sights are taken and hearts sealed in the same hypothetical act of Allah.
- 6:110 the قلب verb (nuqallibu) takes the inner-hearts and the sights as joint objects.
- 7:179 hearts that do not comprehend and eyes that do not see are paired in parallel negations.
- 16:108 hearts, hearing and sight are jointly stamped by Allah.
- 21:3 hearts are heedlessly diverted while the wrongdoers ask whether people come to sorcery while seeing.
- 22:46 the explicit contrast: sights do not go blind, but the hearts within the chests do.
- 24:37 a Day is feared when hearts and sights will be overturned together.
- 24:44 Allah turns night and day about, a lesson for possessors of the sights.
- 33:10 the sights swerve and the hearts reach the throats in the same moment.
- 45:23 hearing and heart are sealed and a covering placed over the sight.
- 59:2 dread is hurled into hearts, and the address closes with 'O possessors of insight'.
- 67:4 the sight is told to turn back (yanqalib) and returns worn out — the قلب verb applied to the بصر noun.
All Qur'anic expressions