وَلَو نَشاءُ لَطَمَسنا عَلىٰ أَعيُنِهِم فَاستَبَقُوا الصِّراطَ فَأَنّىٰ يُبصِرونَ

Had We wished We would have blotted out their eyes: then, were they to advance towards the path, how would have they seen?

EXEGESIS

Ṭamasnā (we blotted) is from the root ṭams, which literally means to efface, eradicate, and obliterate a thing. Tabatabai considers the meaning of ṭams as to eradicate something without keeping any trace of it. Therefore, the sentence implies wiping out the eyes entirely without leaving any sign of it on the face.^{‎[1]Mizan, 17/107.} Eyes could mean the insight to see the course of true human felicity.

EXPOSITION

This verse and the two following verses may be related to the previous statement regarding the testimony of the limbs. Sometimes we ask why Allah has given us all these bounties, faculties, and powers and then holds us responsible for them. One may sometimes wish they were not given these blessings and abilities and thus would not have any responsibility for them. The Quran tells us that when people look at their actions being played back before their eyes on the Day of Judgement, the rejecters will wish they had never been created, The day when a person will observe what his hands have sent ahead, and the faithless one will say: ‘I wish I were dust!’ (78:40).

The answer is that God could have done that, but what type of creature would we have been then? Had We wished We would have blotted out their eyes, but how then could they find their way? How could they go about fulfilling their ambitions and goals in life?

How would have they seen may mean that it was not even possible for them to imagine that they could not see because they did not have any idea of vision. In fact, there may be many things in this world that we may not perceive and not know that we are not perceiving them because we are not given the ability for that perception and have no idea about it. There is no logical necessity that things in this world should be confined to our five means of perception.

How would they have seen may also mean that if their eyes were blotted out, they were unable even to find the way to their houses, let alone find the path of truth and step on the straight path.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Those who believe God compels people to do good or evil use these verses to support their ideology. However, God clearly indicates that if He wanted to impose the deviated path on them by making them blind or paralysing them from finding the path of guidance, He would have done so. He is not doing it, in order to give them the opportunity to choose and decide themselves. Therefore, the proponent of the concept of free will use these verses to support their ideology. Even if He wills, He could take away their power of intellect and body along with their senses, so they would never be able to find the straight path, but He does not do that. Advancing the straight path could be by racing others on it towards paradise.^{‎[2]Razi, 26/103.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. For this reason, they could not believe because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn – and I would heal them.”^{‎[3]John 12:38-40.}

[1] Mizan, 17/107.
[2] Razi, 26/103.
[3] John 12:38-40.