and touch. In this sphere, such knowledge enables one to recognize what one likes and dislikes and to distinguish between those who treat one well and those who mistreat one, and so forth.
Allah Most High says:
“Allah brought you out of your mothers’ wombs knowing nothing, and gave you hearing, sight, and hearts, so that you might be grateful.”
He also says:
“Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His spirit, and gave you hearing, sight, and hearts. How little thanks you give!”
And He says:
“Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, hearing, sight, and the heart—one will be questioned about all of these.”
And He says:
“We gave them hearing, sight, and hearts.”
And He says:
“Allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a covering.”
Regarding the function and capacity of each of these organs, He says:
“We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and humankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear.”
The eye falls short of the heart and the ear, differing from them in one respect: through it, a person sees only things that are present and corporeal, such as forms and bodies. Through the heart and the ear, however, a person can know what is absent from him, as well as spiritual matters and abstract concepts that lie beyond the scope of sight. The latter two then differ from one another:
The heart itself comprehends things, since knowledge is its nourishment and distinctive attribute. The ear, by contrast, conveys speech containing knowledge to the heart; in itself, it merely carries words and speech. When these reach the heart, it draws from them the knowledge they contain. Thus, the true possessor of knowledge is the heart. All the other organs are merely its gatekeepers, conveying to it information that it would not