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The man’s faith was not yet complete, but completion was only a short step away and followed the fuller self-revelation of Jesus to him (vv.35-38). Jesus' presence divided people (v.39; cf. 3:18; 5:22; 8:15-16). Those who acknowledged their own darkness turned to him, as the Light of the world, for illumination. Such was the case of the man born blind. But those who, like the Pharisees of 9:40, insisted on their own ability to see turned away from him and were blinded. As the proverb says, there are none so blind as those who will not see. See the exposition of this passage in Turner (208-11).
The Fourth Gospel and Jesus' claim to be the light of the world was the inspiration for Philip Bliss’s famous hymn, “The Light of the World.” The chorus is an application of ch. 9 and specifically quotes 9:25:
Come to the Light, 'tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me;
Once I was blind, but now I can see;
The Light of the world is Jesus.