Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nahl Verse 78

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Allah has brought you forth from your mothers’ wombs when you knew nothing, and He made for you ears, eyes and hearts, so that you may be grateful.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And Allah brought you out of the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing, and gave you hearing, sight, and intellect so perhaps you would be thankful.

Ruwwad Translation Center

Allah brought you out from your mothers’ wombs not knowing anything, and He gave you hearing, sight and intellect, so that you may be grateful.

A. J. Arberry

And it is God who brought you forth from your mothers' wombs, and He appointed for you hearing, and sight, and hearts, that haply so you will be thankful.

Abdul Haleem

It is God who brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and minds, so that you might be thankful.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And Allah hath brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers while ye know not aught, and He hath appointed for you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing; and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections; that ye may give thanks (to Allah).

Abul Ala Maududi

Allah has brought you forth from your mothers' wombs when you knew nothing, and then gave you hearing, and sight and thinking hearts so that you may give thanks.

Ahmed Ali

God produced you from your mothers' wombs knowing nothing, but gave you ears and eyes and hearts so that you may be grateful.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And Allah brought you forth from your mothers’ wombs, whilst you did not know anything* – and gave you ears and eyes and hearts, for you to be grateful. (* Prophet Mohammed and Prophet Jesus, among others, are exceptions to this rule – peace and blessings be upon them.)

Ali Quli Qarai

Allah has brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers while you did not know anything. He made for you hearing, eyesight, and hearts so that you may give thanks.

Ali Ünal

God brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when you knew nothing, and (in order that you might be perfected through learning) endowed you with hearing and eyes and hearts, that you may give thanks (from the heart and in speech, and in action by fulfilling His commandments).

Amatul Rahman Omar

And Allâh brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers, while you were void of all knowledge, He gave you ears, eyes and hearts, so that you might render (Him) thanks.

English Literal

And God brought you out from your mothers` bellies/insides, you do not know a thing, and He made/created for you the sense of hearing , and the eye sights/knowledge, and the hearts/could be minds, maybe/perhaps you thank/be grateful.

Faridul Haque

And Allah brought you forth from your mothers’ wombs, whilst you did not know anything * - and gave you ears and eyes and hearts, for you to be grateful. (* Prophet Mohammed and Prophet Jesus, among others, are exceptions to this rule - peace and blessings be upon them.)

Hamid S. Aziz

Allah brings you forth out of the wombs of your mothers knowing naught; and He gives you hearing, and sight, and heart, that you may give thanks.

Hilali & Khan

And Allah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allah).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Allah’s is the unseen of the heavens and the earth. And the matter of the Hour is but as a twinkling of the eye or it is nigher still. Surely Allah is Possessor of power over all things.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And Allah has brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers-- you did not know anything-- and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts that you may give thanks.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And Allah brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks.

Muhammad Sarwar

When God brought you out of your mothers wombs, you knew nothing. He gave you ears, eyes, and hearts so that perhaps you would give Him thanks.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Allah brought you out of your mothers' wombs, and gave you hearing, sight and hearts, in order that you be thankful.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And Allah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts, that you might give thanks.

Wahiduddin Khan

God brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts, so that you might be grateful.

Talal Itani

God brought you out of your mothers’ wombs, not knowing anything; and He gave you the hearing, and the eyesight, and the brains; that you may give thanks.

Tafsir jalalayn

And God brought you forth from the bellies of your mothers while you did not know anything (the statement [l ta`lamna shay'an, `while you did not know anything'] is a circumstantial qualifier), and He gave you hearing and sight and hearts that perhaps you might give thanks, to Him for this [gift] and become believers.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

And Allah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you knew nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts, that you might give thanks.

Allah mentions His blessings to His servants in that He brought them from their mothers' wombs not knowing a thing, then He gives them hearing to recognize voices, sight to see visible things and hearts - meaning reason - whose seat, according to the correct view, is the heart, although it was also said that its seat is the brain. With his reason, a person can distinguish between what is harmful and what is beneficial.

These abilities and senses develop gradually in man. The more he grows, the more his hearing, vision and reason increase, until they reach their peak.

Allah has created these faculties in man to enable him to worship his Lord, so he uses all these organs, abilities and strengths to obey his Master.

Al-Bukhari reported in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said;

يَقُولُ تَعَالَى

مَنْ عَادَىىِلي وَلِيًّا فَقَدْ بَارَزَنِي بِالْحَرْبِ

وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ أَدَاءِ مَا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ

فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ وَيَدَهُ الَّتِي يَبْطِشُ بِهَا وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتِي يَمْشِي بِهَا

وَلَيِنْ سَأَلَنِي لَاُعْطِيَنَّهُ وَلَيِنْ دَعَانِي لَاُجِيبَنَّهُ وَلَيِنِ اسْتَعَاذَ بِي لَاُعِيذَنَّهُ

وَمَا تَرَدَّدْتُ فِي شَيْءٍ أَنَا فَاعِلُهُ تَرَدُّدِي فِي قَبْضِ نَفْسِ عَبْدِي الْمُوْمِنِ يَكْرَهُ الْمَوْتَ وَأَكْرَهُ مَسَاءَتَهُ وَلَا بُدَّ لَهُ مِنْه

Allah says;

"Whoever takes My friend as an enemy, has declared war on Me.

My servant does not draw near to Me with anything better than his doing that which I have enjoined upon him, and My servant keeps drawing near to Me by doing Nawafil (supererogatory) deeds until I love him.

And when I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his vision with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks.

Were he to ask Me for anything, I would give it to him, if he were to call on Me, I would respond, if he were to seek Me for refuge I would surely grant him it.

I do not hesitate to do anything as I hesitate to take the soul of My believing servant, because he hates death and I hate to upset him, but it is inevitable."

The meaning of the Hadith is that when a person is sincere in his obedience towards Allah, all his deeds are done for the sake of Allah, so he only hears for the sake of Allah, he only sees for the sake of Allah - meaning he only listens to or looks at what has been allowed by Allah. He does not strike or walk except in obedience to Allah, seeking Allah's help in all of these things. Thus in some versions of the Hadith, narrated outside the Sahih, after the phrase "his foot with which he walks", there is added;

فَبِي يَسْمَعُ وَبِي يُبْصِرُ وَبِي يَبْطِشُ وَبِي يَمْشِي

So through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he strikes and through Me he walks.

Thus Allah says;

وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْسَّمْعَ وَالَابْصَارَ وَالَافْيِدَةَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ



And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks.

Elsewhere, He says;

قُلْ هُوَ الَّذِى أَنشَأَكُمْ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالاٌّبْصَـرَ وَالاٌّفْيِدَةَ قَلِيلً مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ

قُلْ هُوَ الَّذِى ذَرَأَكُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ وَإِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ

Say it is He Who has created you, and endowed you with hearing and seeing, and hearts. Little thanks you give.

Say;"It is He Who has created you on the earth, and to Him shall you be gathered (in the Hereafter)." (67;23-24)
In the Subjection of the Birds in the Sky there is a Sign

Allah says