سورة الحج

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the interpretation of these words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic [where He says]: أَ فَلَمْ یَسِیرُوا فِی الْأَرْضِ [Have they not travelled in the land?]; he said: "That is, have they not looked into the Qur'an with reflection?"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has joined obedience to the holder of His command (the infallible Imam) to obedience to His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), and obedience to His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) to obedience to Himself; so whoever abandons obedience to the holders of the command has not obeyed Allah nor His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family)... Allah chose the prophets for His task (giving glad tidings and warning to the servants), then selected them as believers in His warnings and said: 'And there is no community but a warner has passed among it.' (Fatir/24) Whoever did not know went astray, and whoever opened his eyes and reflected was guided. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts]; and how can one who does not see find the way, and how can one who does not reflect be seeing? Follow the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and his Ahl al-Bayt, and acknowledge what has been sent down from Allah, and follow the signs of guidance, for indeed they are the signs of trust and piety.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts]; and how can one who does not see find the way, and how can one who has not been warned be seeing?

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Real blindness is the blindness of the heart; فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Taking heed and admonition is only for those who have a pure heart and are people of insight. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: 'So take heed, O possessors of insight!' (Hashr/2) And [elsewhere] He said: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts]; whoever Allah grants the eye of the heart and insight, He has given him a great station and placed him in a very lofty position.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Indeed the servant has four eyes; with two eyes he sees the matter of his religion and his world, and with the other two eyes he beholds the matter of his hereafter. So when Allah wishes good for a servant, He opens for him the two eyes that are in his heart and with them he sees the unseen in the matter of his hereafter; and when He wishes other than that for a servant, He leaves the heart as it is.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The severest blindness is misguidance after guidance; and the worst blindness is blindness of the heart.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted has not made faith obligatory upon only one limb of the body; rather, each of the limbs of the body has a duty different from the duty of the other limb... As for the faith which He has made obligatory upon the heart, it is confession, recognition, contentment with what Allah has made obligatory upon it, submission to the divine command, remembrance of Allah, reflection, and yielding to all that has come from Allah the Mighty and Majestic in the Qur'an, which must be applied to the extent of one's ability; belief in these duties is obligatory upon the heart, and one must make manifest [in action also] what he believes inwardly, except in a case where necessity dictates the concealment of belief (such as cases where taqiyya against the enemy is required), as in this saying of Allah [where He has said]: "except for those who have been placed under pressure" (Al-Nahl/106)... and this saying of Allah [where He has said]: "Do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon their hearts?!" (Muhammad/24). And [again] Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts]; and the like of these verses in the Qur'an is abundant, and this belief of the heart is the foundation of faith... And as for what He has made obligatory upon the two eyes, it is looking with care at the signs of Allah and averting the gaze from what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden; Allah the Exalted has said: "...Have they not looked into the dominion and system of the heavens and the earth, and what Allah has created [with care and to take a lesson]?!" (Al-A'raf/185)... and He has said: "Whoever sees with insight, it is for his own benefit, and whoever closes the eye of insight, it is to his own loss." (Al-An'am/104). And this verse encompasses both the sight of the eyes and the sight of the hearts; Allah the Exalted has said: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Indeed Allah the Exalted has not made faith obligatory upon only one limb, and there is no limb among the limbs of a human being except that it has been entrusted with something different from what the other has been entrusted with. Among them... is what He has made obligatory upon the two eyes, which is looking at the signs of Allah and averting the gaze from what Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden. Allah the Exalted has said: "...فَمَنْ أَبْصَرَ فَلِنَفْسِهِ وَ مَنْ عَمِیَ فَعَلَیْها [So whoever sees with insight, it is for his own benefit, and whoever is blind, it is against himself]," and this verse encompasses both the sight of the eyes and the sight of the inner perceptions. Allah the Exalted has said: فَإِنَّها لا تَعْمَی الْأَبْصارُ وَ لکِنْ تَعْمَی الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِی فِی الصُّدُورِ [For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts].