Transliteration:( Wa lisaananw wa shafatayn )
9. It should be remembered that the eye looks at someone else but not himself, while the tongue describes his own condition, not of someone else's. There is an encounter between them. Other outer limbs are in pairs, but the tongue is one, so that man can talk less and work more. Also, he should maintain one tongue i.e. be a man of his word. A person of double tongue is a hypocrite. Also, just as the outer tongue is one, the tongue of the heart i.e the inner tongue too should be one. Therefore it is important that the tongue and the heart should be one. The tongue is placed in captivity between the two lips. Thirty-two teeth have been placed as guards over it so that it can be understood that the looseness of the tongue is not good. An uncontrolled tongue distances a person from the Creator and the creation. It should further be remembered that on some people's tongue the baser self speaks,
while on the tongue of some the devil speaks, while on the tongue of some the angels speak and on others Allah Almighty speaks. In short, the human tongue is the absolute manifestation of Divine power. It is for this reason that it has been mentioned among His special bounties. The Quranic verses and all the prayers are like bullets while the tongue is the rifle. A good rifle is able to fire the bullet more effectively. The recitation of the Quran and the prayers uttered from the pure tongue will have more effect. Thus keep the tongue pure so that you can see the light of the Holy Quran. According to the Sufi sages the tongue of Islam and guidance is the Holy Quran while the actions and sayings of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلمare the two lips. Just as the tongue cannot reveal the secret of the heart without the help of the lips, likewise without the actions and utterances of the Holy Prophet the secrets of the HolyQur'aan cannot be unfolded.
The tafsir of Surah Balad verse 9 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Balad ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 10.
(90:9) and a tongue and two lips?[9]
9. That is, have We not given him the means of obtaining knowledge and wisdom? Two eyes does not imply the eyes of the cow and buffalo, but human eyes, which if used intelligently can help man see all around himself those signs which lead to the reality and distinguish the right from the wrong. The tongue and lips do not merely imply the instruments of speech but the rational mind behind these instruments which performs the functions of thinking and understanding and then uses them for expressing its ideas, motives and designs.
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