مَعِيشَة

18:102.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that a person who consigns God to oblivion in this life and leads a life which obstructs or impedes his spiritual development and growth and thus deprives himself of heavenly light will be born blind at the time of his second birth in the afterlife. This will be because his soul in this life which serves as a body for the much more spiritually developed soul in the next world had become blind on account of his having led a sinful and depraved life in this world. This is one meaning of the verse.

It may have another interpretation. معیشة (life) signifies the basis of human life and it is not only physical amenities and comforts on which human life depends but other innumerable things also contribute to its sustenance and to man’s social, moral and spiritual development. Of these things those people who reject Divine teaching remain deprived and thus they lead a difficult life, full of strains and stresses. Moreover, the sphere of action of the rejecters of Divine teaching is very narrow and limited because they have no grand and great goal before them, as it is belief in Divine attributes and the development by man of these attributes in his person that help to broaden his vision. This is why the Prophets of God and His Elect stand on a much higher moral plane than the votaries of philosophy.