BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Narrated Ali (R.A):
Fatima (R.A) went to the Prophet (S.A.W) complaining about the bad effect of the stone hand-mill on her hand. She heard that the Prophet had received a few slave girls. But (when she came there) she did not find him, so she mentioned her problem to ‘Aisha (R.A). When the Prophet came, Aisha informed him about that. Ali added, “So the Prophet came to us when we had gone to bed. We wanted to get up (on his arrival) but he said, ‘Stay where you are.” Then he came and sat between me and her and I felt the coldness of his feet on my abdomen. He said, “Shall I direct you to something better than what you have requested? When you go to bed say Subhan Allah thirty-three times, Alhamdulillah thirty-three times, and Allahu Akbar thirty-four times, for that is better for you than a servant.”
Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 64, Number 274
There is an urban legend claiming snakes are blind, but it is a myth. While blind snakes exist (the Indotyphlops braminus, whose common name is, appropriately, blind snake), most of them aren’t blind and can see things with their eyes.
The truth about snakes’ vision is that their eyesight is very poor. Humans see the world in high definition, full of colors and with binocular vision. Snakes see the world in black and white and can only see the shape of the objects around them. It is believed that snakes’ poor eyesight is the result of the evolutionary process. Some scientists believe this is due to their diet which mostly consists of small animals which they follow by smell or heat.
Other scientists believe it is because snakes spend most of their time underground where there is not much light. This would explain why some species of snakes have heat-sensitive pits on their faces that help them see better in the dark. Snakes evolved from lizards and, during this process, they lost their eyelids and external ears. They developed a sense of smell that was a more important ability for them in terms of finding prey and avoiding predators.
Even though they can’t see colors or far away objects, snakes have very good close-up vision. This means they can see things that are right in front of them very clearly. Their eyes are also very sensitive to movement, so they can easily spot their prey (or predators) from a distance.
There are some snakes that have very good vision: boa constrictors need to be able to see their prey clearly so they can strike with precision. Other snakes that have good vision include the king cobra, the night snake, and the green tree python. These snakes are all active during the day and need to be able to see to hunt their prey.
So, while most snakes have poor eyesight, there are some that have very good vision. It all depends on the type of snake and its lifestyle.