Surah Al-An'aam (6) — Ayah 46

(Ayah 46){ قُلْ اَرَءَيْتُمْ اِنْ اَخَذَ اللّٰهُ …:} It is said, now you have your ears, eyes, and hearts present; by listening to, seeing, and reflecting upon Allah’s signs and verses, you can attain salvation from disbelief. If Allah were to take these away and seal the hearts, then tell, is there anyone besides Allah who can return these blessings? Therefore, repent before they are taken away and do not delay in this at all. Allah presents the realities in various ways so that people may become aware of the truths, but even then, they do not refrain from their ways and persist in their indifference to Allah’s verses.

46. 1. Eyes, ears, and heart—these are the most important organs of a human being. Allah Almighty is saying that if He wills, He can take away the qualities that He has placed within them, meaning the abilities of hearing, seeing, and understanding, just as the disbelievers are deprived of these qualities in their organs. Or if He wills, He can completely remove the organs themselves; He is capable of both. No one can escape His grasp, except if He Himself wishes to test someone. Presenting the verses from different aspects means sometimes through warning and glad tidings, encouragement and deterrence, and sometimes through other means.

46. Say, "Have you considered: if Allah were to take away your hearing and your sight, and set a seal upon your hearts [49], who is the god other than Allah who could restore them to you?" See how We explain the signs in various ways, yet they turn away.

[49]
How Are the Eyes, Ears, and Heart Signs of Allah?

In this verse, Allah Almighty mentions three of His blessings and declares them as His signs or as indications pointing to the Being of Allah Almighty. First, He mentions hearing: how sound waves are produced in the air by any voice. Then those waves strike the eardrums. The sound of this collision reaches the brain through the nerves. The brain immediately understands the meaning and sense of that sound, and then a person instantly responds to the speaker with his tongue. All these actions occur so quickly that the speaker receives an immediate reply. The same is the case with sight. When the eye sees something, the image or photo or reflection of that thing falls on the lens. Then that same image, through fine channels, falls on the membrane of the brain, and the brain immediately decides that the thing the eye saw is such-and-such, of such-and-such color, and its shape and stature are such-and-such. The system of the heart is even more complex than these. The power of discernment, intellect, will, and all faculties of choice are related to it. To think about something, to plan, and to decide—all of this is its function. Allah Almighty says that if Allah were to take away the function and system of hearing, sight, or the heart, do any of the gods of these polytheists have the power to restore this system? But these people do not reflect on the signs of Allah; rather, wherever the signs of Allah are mentioned, they turn away from there. Now, the other aspect of this is that whatever perfections man has achieved—whether related to inventions, knowledge and philosophy, or human prosperity and good management—and these are the very things man takes pride in and is filled with conceit, in reality, the means of attaining all these things are these very eyes, ears, and heart, and these are purely gifts from Allah. Then, if Allah takes back what He has given, do any of their gods have the power to restore these things to them? And if they cannot do so, then how can they be partners in the works of Allah?