وَأَمّا مَن جاءَكَ يَسعىٰ
But he who comes hurrying to you.
EXEGESIS
Yasʿā (comes hurrying) is from saʿy, which means to walk quickly, and is used to mean expending serious effort in something, whether good or bad.
Here it means hurrying quickly to listen to the Prophet. Alternatively, yasʿā can here mean striving, intending ‘he comes to you, whilst striving (to be good or to learn or to purify himself)’, like in the verse, The day when man will remember his endeavours (mā saʿā) (79:35). These two understandings for yasʿā are not mutually exclusive and the ambivalence adds to the richness of meaning.
EXPOSITION
This group of verses (8-10) starts with ammā, once again indicating a change in attention (iltifāt), now back to the blind man (in third person). The second person verbs and pronouns are still referring to the frowner. The verses reveal to us now the final piece of why God reprimanded the frowner – the blind man had been most sincere when he came with his question or request and the frowner should not have neglected him, but rather politely answered his question. The image it paints is of a sincere person, who is expending great effort to come to the Prophet and to learn and improve, and his only motivation for this was his fear of God’s divine station.
To hurry or strive towards God and His Messenger is the foundation of success. A believer is always striving towards self-improvement and trying to learn more, overcome his flaws, and grow spiritually. He may not, or rather will not, achieve all that he strives for, but God does not expect perfection from him, merely the effort, nothing belongs to man except what he strives for (saʿā) (53:39).
The blind man hurrying towards the frowner is of course ironic and subverts expectation. We tend not to think of blind people rushing anywhere. Yet this physical verb is also spiritual: the very act of physically hurrying towards the Prophet is a sign of devotion and priority, like the believers who make haste towards the Friday prayers. It also underlines how sincerity always results in outward action. The one who desires God will also hasten to good actions.
There is once again a connection to the previous surah. Here the blind man is described as jāʾaka yasʿā – comes hurrying to you. In the previous surah, Pharaoh is described as reacting to the divine call with adbara yasʿā – Then he turned back, walking swiftly (79:22). The juxtaposition is stark. The poor blind man rushes towards the message, whilst the rich powerful one rushes away from it.
[1] Raghib, p. 411, s-ʿ-y.