Surah Abasa ayat 2 Tafsir Quran 80:2

﴿أَن جَاءَهُ الْأَعْمَىٰ﴾
[ عبس: 2]

80:2 Because there came to him the blind man, [interrupting].

because the blind man came to him ‘Abd Allāh son of Umm Maktūm who interrupted him while he was busy with those notables of Quryash whose submission to God he was very eager for. The blind man was not aware that he was busy with these and so he called out to him ‘Teach me of what God has taught you’. However the Prophet s went off to his house. He was then reproached for this with what was revealed in this sūra. Afterwards whenever he came to him the Prophet would say to him ‘Greetings to him on whose account God reproached me!’ and would lay down his cloak for him.

When the blind man came in (and interrupted his exhortation to some of the Qurashite nobilities who tried to suppress his mission and stood in his way)

(80:2) that the blind man came to him. *1

Because there came to him the blind meaning

*1) The style of this first sentence is elegant and subtle.
Although in the following sentences the Holy Prophet ( upon whom be peace ) has been directly addressed, which by itself shows that the act of frowning and turning aside had issued forth from him, the discourse has been opened in a manner as though it was not he but some one else who had so acted.
By this style the Holy Prophet ( upon whom be peace ), by a subtle method, has been made to realize that it was an act unseemly for him.
Had somebody familiar with his high morals witnessed it, he would have thought that it was not he but some other person who had behaved in that manner.
The blind man referred to here implies, as we have explained in the Introduction, the well-known Companion, Hadrat Ibn Umm Maktum.
Hafiz Ibn 'Abdul Barr in Al-Isti'ab and Hafiz Ibn Hajar in AI-Isbah have stated that he was a first cousin of the Holy Prophet's wife, Hadrat Khadijah.
His mother, Umm Maktum, and Hadrat Khadijah's father, Khuwailid, were sister and brother to each other.
After one knows his relationship with the Holy Prophet, there remains no room for the doubt that he had turned away from him regarding him as a poor man having a low station in life, and attended to the high-placed people, for he was the Holy Prophet's brother-in-law and a man of noble birth.
The reason why the Holy Prophet had shown disregard for him is indicated by the word a ma ( blind man ), which Allah Himself has used as the cause of the Holy Prophet's inattention.
That is, the Holy Prophet thought that even if a single man from among the people whom he was trying to bring to the right path, listened to him and was rightly guided, be could become a powerful means of strengthening Islam.
On the contrary, Ibn Umm Maktum was a blind man, who could not prove to be so useful for Islam because of his disability as could one of the Quraish elders on becoming a Muslim.
Therefore, he should not interrupt the conversation at that time; whatever he wanted to ask or learn, he could ask or learn at some later time.

 

( Because the blind man came unto him ) when ’Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum came to him. His real name is ’Abdullah Ibn Shurayh. Umm Maktum was his father’s mother. What happened is that the Prophet ( pbuh ) was sitting with a group of men among the nobles of Quraysh, among whom were his uncle al-’Abbas Ibn ’Abd al-Muttalib, Umayyah Ibn Khalaf al-Jumahi and Safwan Ibn Umayyah, who were at that time disbelievers. The Prophet ( pbuh ) was admonishing and inviting them to Islam when Ibn Maktum came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah! Teach me of that which Allah has taught you. The Prophet ( pbuh ) turned his face from him because he was busy with these people. When this happened Allah revealed: he frowned and turned away because the blind man came unto him.

Because there came to him the blind man (i.e. 'Abdullah bin Umm-Maktum, who came to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) while he was preaching to one or some of the Quraish chiefs).

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