ثُمَّ فَتَحَ كَرِيمَتَيْهِ
Then he opened his two eyes.
At the meal the old petitioner opens his eyes. The act has narrative force far beyond the movement itself: it breaks the earlier impression of blindness and invites a new inquiry.
Recognition of the man does not supply his motive. Al-Ḥārith can know who he is and still ask why he pretended to lack sight. One disclosure closes a question about appearance while opening another about intention. This staged sequence sustains the story’s momentum.