﴿ قُتِلَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَآ أَكْفَرَهُۥ ﴾

“[But only too often] man destroys himself: how stubbornly does he deny the truth!”

The Prophet Muhammad was once preaching to the chiefs of the Quraysh in Makkah, when a blind man, ‘Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum, arrived at the gathering and said, ‘O, Prophet of God ! Please teach me something of what God has taught you.’ The arrival of a blind person at this juncture displeased the Prophet. These verses were revealed on that occasion. In these verses the apparent addressee is the Prophet Muhammad, but actually it has been clarified with reference to this incident that, in the eyes of God, those prominent people who have turned away from religion have no value. Before God, the valued person is the one who is imbued with the God-fearing spirit, though apparently he may be a ‘blind’ person.