Quran Universe
40:58

وَمَا يَسۡتَوِي ٱلۡأَعۡمَىٰ وَٱلۡبَصِيرُ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِ وَلَا ٱلۡمُسِيٓءُۚ قَلِيلٗا مَّا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

Wama yastawee alaAAma waalbaseeru waallatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati wala almuseeo qaleelan ma tatathakkaroona

And not equal are the blind and the seeing, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds and the evildoer. Little do you remember.

Word by word
  1. وَمَاAnd not
  2. يَسۡتَوِي(are) equal
  3. ٱلۡأَعۡمَىٰthe blind
  4. وَٱلۡبَصِيرُand the seeing
  5. وَٱلَّذِينَand those who
  6. ءَامَنُواْbelieve
  7. وَعَمِلُواْand do
  8. ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِrighteous deeds
  9. وَلَاand not
  10. ٱلۡمُسِيٓءُۚthe evildoer
  11. قَلِيلٗاLittle
  12. مَّا(is) what
  13. تَتَذَكَّرُونَyou take heed
Ghafir · 40:58Makkah

The blind and the seeing are not the same.

Nor the one who does good and the one who does harm

Two pairs
the blindsees nothing
the seeingsees far
like
believers doing good
the evildoer
Does it matter how I live
it all ends the same
not equala huge difference

Ibn Kathir explains that a blind man who sees nothing is not the same as a man who sees as far as his eyes reach. In the same way, the righteous and the corrupt are not equal. Little do people remember this.

Sometimes it feels pointless. The cheat got promoted, the honest one got overlooked. It looks equal from here. It is not. Doing good is not wasted just because nobody clapped.

Good or bad, everyone ends up the same.

Living rightly and living wrongly are as different as seeing and blindness.

Try this

Do one honest thing today that costs you a little and that no one will notice.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 40:57)

The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of the people do not know (57)And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember (58)Verily, the Hour is surely coming, there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not (59)

Life after Death

Allah tells us that He will bring back His creation on the Day of Resurrection. That is very easy for Him, because He created the heavens and the earth, and creating them is greater than creating mankind, the first time and when He creates them again. The One Who is able to do that is able to do anything that is less than that. As Allah says:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَلَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَىٰ أَنْ يُحْيِيَ الْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ بَلَىٰ إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes, He surely is able to do all things.)(46:33) And Allah says here:

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not.) hence they do not think about or ponder this proof. Similarly, many of the Arabs recognized that Allah had created the heavens and the earth, but they denied and rejected the idea of the resurrection; they acknowledged something which was greater than that which they denied. Then Allah says:

وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَىٰ وَالْبَصِيرُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَلَا الْمُسِيءُ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor are those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember!) The blind man who cannot see anything is not the same as the sighted man who can see everything as far as his eyesight reaches – there is a huge difference between them. By the same token, the righteous believers and the immoral disbelievers are not equal.

قَلِيلًا مَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(Little do you remember!) means, most of the people remember little.

إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَآتِيَةٌ

(Verily, the Hour (Day of Judgement) is surely coming,) means, it will indeed come to pass.

لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ 

(there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not.) means, they do not believe in it, and in fact they doubt its existence altogether.