Ghafir 40:58
The Forgiver · ayah 58 of 85
Wama yastawee al-aAAma walbaseeruwallatheena amanoo waAAamiloo assalihatiwala almusee-o qaleelan ma tatathakkaroon
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"The blind and the sighted are not equal, just as those who believe and do good works and those who do evil are not equal: how seldom you reflect!"
Pickthall (classic)+
"And the blind man and the seer are not equal, neither are those who believe and do good works (equal with) the evil-doer. Little do ye reflect!"
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"Not equal are the blind and those who (clearly) see: Nor are (equal) those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and those who do evil. Little do ye learn by admonition!"
Tafsīr · classical commentary
Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
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Ibn Kathir
Abridged English, public domain
Life after Death
Allah tells us that He will bring back His creation on the Day of Resurrection. That is very easy for Him, because He created the heavens and the earth, and creating them is greater than creating mankind, the first time and when He creates them again. The One Who is able to do that is able to do anything that is less than that. As Allah says:
(Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead Yes, He surely is able to do all things.) (46:33) And Allah says here:
(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not.) hence they do not think about or ponder this proof. Similarly, many of the Arabs recognized that Allah had created the heavens and the earth, but they denied and rejected the idea of the resurrection; they acknowledged something which was greater than that which they denied. Then Allah says:
(And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor are those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember!) The blind man who cannot see anything is not the same as the sighted man who can see everything as far as his eyesight reaches -- there is a huge difference between them. By the same token, the righteous believers and the immoral disbelievers are not equal.
(Little do you remember!) means, most of the people remember little.
(Verily, the Hour (Day of Judgement) is surely coming,) means, it will indeed come to pass.
(there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not.) means, they do not believe in it, and in fact they doubt its existence altogether.