What This Igbo Proverb Teaches Us on Faith and Perseverance
Igbo Proverb:
Ányá hụ́rụ́ njọ́ ékpúghí ìsì gà-àhụ́ mmá.
The eyes that see bad but do not lose faith will equally see good.
This proverb is not a call to blind optimism, but a reminder that life’s seasons are cyclical, and what the eye beholds in one moment is not the final picture. To hold faith amid hardship is to trust that good is not only possible, but inevitable, if we keep watching.
The Nature of Sight
The eyes symbolize perception, what we encounter in the world and how we interpret it. To “see bad” is inevitable: misfortune, loss, betrayal, failure. Life offers these as surely as it offers beauty. But this proverb warns against allowing hardship to blind us. Losing faith is like closing the eyes permanently, assuming that darkness is all there is.
Faith, in this context, is the courage to keep the eyes open even when the view is bleak. It is the refusal to let present suffering dictate future expectation.
Endurance as a Path to Renewal
Bad seasons test us not only in circumstance but in spirit. Will we yield to despair, or endure until change arrives? The proverb assures us that those who endure will also witness the good that follows.
This is an ethic of perseverance. It insists that endurance is not passive waiting, but an active refusal to surrender hope. We participate in the possibility of redemption by choosing to have faith.
Faith as Strength
Faith is not naïve denial of pain. It is the strength that allows one to acknowledge suffering without being consumed by it. To the Igbo mind, faith is a posture of resilience, a knowing that time, like the tides, turns.
When we endure without abandoning faith, we preserve the capacity to recognize joy when it returns. The same eyes that once saw loss can marvel at restoration; the same heart that endured heartbreak can open again to love.
Modern Reflections
In personal struggles: Illness, financial hardship, or grief may cloud our vision. Yet, if we keep faith, our eyes remain open to eventual healing, opportunities, and renewal.
In societal struggles: Communities facing injustice or oppression can despair. But history shows that perseverance and faith keep movements alive until justice breaks through.
In everyday life: Failures, disappointments, and setbacks are inevitable. Yet to persist is to ensure we live long enough to see the seasons shift.
To Sum It Up
This Igbo proverb is a reminder that what we see now is not all there is to see. Faith is the strength that keeps our eyes open when bad dominates the horizon, making sure that when good arrives, as it always does, we are present to witness it.
So let your eyes remain open, even through the storm. For just as surely as the night yields to dawn, the eye that perseveres through darkness will one day see the light of morning. Ányá hụ́rụ́ njọ́ gà-àhụ́ mmá!
