His Creation: Sight (23:78)
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim (in the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
“وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنشَأَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۚ قَلِيلًۭا مَّا تَشْكُرُونَ“
He is the One Who created for you hearing, sight, and intellect. ˹Yet˺ you hardly give any thanks.
Translation by Quran.com, Dr. Mustafa Khattab. Surah Al-Mu'minun (the believers), verse 78.
Slit lamp image taken on September 21, 2025
Hearing, sight, and intellect
In that very order, they develop
Deliberate structures and circuitry
Systems within us, we continue to study
And as I continue to study about the eyes
I‘m especially mesmerized by His creation of sight
What started as diagrams on lecture slides,
And an overwhelming amount of notes to memorize,
Little details that I once questioned why we’re even learning about
But that moment when I first got the iris in focus on a slit lamp - I was in awe
It was no longer just a piece of the anatomy or the colored part of the eye; it was His creation
It has the same kind of depth, intricate beauty that I see when I look at a sunset sky
From its unique furrows and crypts to the way it swiftly dilates and constricts
The complexity was no longer a nuisance; it was His design
Now the more I learn, the more I understand
That, truly, we hardly give any thanks
Where do we begin to give thanks?
From the structures at the front to the back of the eye
To its connections from the front to the back of the brain
How do I even begin to explain the intentionality at every plane?
For just to attain the transparency of the cornea that allows light in,
It has layers that keep it nourished yet avascular, in a delicate dehydrated state
And “regularity is the key to transparency” is something taught to us in optometry
Because only then, when collagen fibers are arranged in even rows, can light pass through
Light passes through, but then the iris controls how much of it goes further through
Constricting to limit it in bright daylight; dilating to capture more of it in the dark
Dynamic structures adapting to our demands without our conscious demand
Like the crystalline lens sitting behind the iris, constantly adjusting its shape
So our vision stays in focus as we look from far horizons to nearby pages
And for ages, we’ve been studying the deliberate details of His design
Some of which we’ve used to create the cameras we use
In an attempt to capture what our eyes view
But where do we begin to give thanks?
And how often do we stop to give thanks?
As often as the retina at the back of the eye receives light?
Or as often as its specialized cells transform and encode that light
Into signals, a language the brain specifically interprets and understands?
Perhaps as often as those signals organize and travel through the optic nerve?
Some cross the optic chiasm; all pass through pathways precisely designed
To take each signal to its intended place, mapped out in the back of the brain
Maybe as often as the brain translates what comes into the eye as light?
Into faces, words on pages, depth of spaces, or colors of sunset skies
Separate views from two eyes fuse into one seamless image
Images of His creations we see through His creation
But for all that it takes for us to have sight
How often do we give thanks?
The truth is, we hardly give any thanks
So where do we begin? Perhaps by noticing,
All the pieces that must come together for us to have sight
How often do we give thanks? Maybe as often as we open our eyes
And use the blessing that is sight to witness countless other blessings around us
Thanks through words of gratitude to our Creator, and thanks through actions that please Him
P.S. I find Al-Mu'minun (the believers) to be grounding; this is my favorite recitation: https://youtu.be/Ptw9ZYvQfL8