In the first verse resurrection has been compared to the creation of the heavens and the earth. God says: “The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind.”

Fakhruddin Razi has explained this verse as:

“It is a clear argument and proof about the truth that God has the authority over creating human life. It also clarifies that the disbelievers of resurrection have adopted the path of opposition and denial this because of their jealousy, ignorance, and bias.” (1)

Other commentators like Tabrisi in Majmaul Bayan and Qartabi in Ruhul Bayan have explained that this verse is about the deniers of the Day of Judgment. It says:

“How is it that he who has the power to create the heavens and the earth not able to give a new life to the dead?” (2)

Some commentators have explained the term “But most of the mankind do not know” as: It is not that most people do not know about the creation of the heavens and the earth with all its perfect systems as compared with the new life of mankind but it says that they remain oblivious of this and do not think about it. They do not make conclusion through it about the Day of Judgment and resurrection due to their bias and bigotry. This is why Qura’n speaks about them being unaware and ignorant. (3)

The point to note is that the glory of the heavens had not been understood in those days. There were only a few who had understood their secret through knowledge but Qura’n did unravel the same because its fountainhead was the knowledge of God. It should also be noted that the “Lam” in “Li Khalq” is for emphasis.

In the second verse the Qura’n mentions the deniers of resurrection who denied the possibility of decayed bones coming back to life and then says: “Do they not see that God who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the likes of them?”

The word “Mithl” may be hinting at the re- creation of man because doing this will be the repetition of the earlier creation. It may also be saying that God has the power and authority to create new men like them and when He has the authority then re-creation of man is easy for Him.

It is regarded as “Mithl” or similar because the new body will not be exactly as the one before for the matter is subject to changes but the soul of man will be the same and is reunited with this new body so in re-creation man is similar to the one before but in a sense is the one before. (Reflect)

The verse then answers their second objection for they had said, “why doesn’t the Day of Judgment occur if it is a reality?’ The Book says: “And He has decreed for them an appointed time about which there is no doubt. But the wrong doers disbelieve.”

In other words He has fixed a time through His perfect authority and it will occur at the time prescribed without any minor variation. But the unjust disbelievers still do not believe because their vanity, ignorance and bias have clouded their rationale.

The same meaning is conveyed in the third verse with a little variation. God says:

“Do they not see that it is God who created the heavens and the earth and was not wearied by the creation and is able to give life to the dead? Yes, surely He is able to do all things.”

The term “Do they not see” means do they not discern it through their intelligence so the commentators have explained it as “Do they not know?” Some have taken it to mean knowledge and understanding together with farsightedness.

The word “Ya’ya” is derived from “Ayyi” and means the tiredness and weakness that come from walking too much and it also means all kinds of weaknesses that come from responsibility of doing any work or from talking to someone. The word “Daiyyaa” means a pain without cure because such a pain truly weakens.

Some have said that it means ignorance but this idea is very far fetched.

Weakness and inability can be felt when a person’s strength is limited but the powers of God are unlimited and so no such question arises for Him.

It is possible that this may be referring to the frivolous claims of the Jews that “When God grew tired from creating the heavens and earth He declared the 7th day as the day of rest.” This assumption was later conserved in the traditions. This claim is so wrong that it need not be discussed.

The 4th verse replies to the many questions that the deniers raise and also the reply to the person who had brought a decayed bone to the Messenger and said, “Who will give a new life to this decayed bone?” God says:

““Is it not He who created the heavens and the earth and is able to create the like of them? Yes indeed, He is the all-knowing Supreme Creator.”

It is evident that when we speak about the skies it includes all the meteors, stars, and galaxies and we know that according to the modern discoveries in science our earth is part of the Milky Way. It is said that it contains more than a hundred billion stars and our sun is one of the medium sized ones. It is also declared that a gigantic telescope has already identified one billion stars. We multiply the figures then we can get a glimpse of the enormous size of the heavens and this too is the limit of human knowledge. Tomorrow we may discover a world compared to which our world will seem very insignificant.

When we said “earth” it includes all the secrets that it holds.

Will whoever has created this great, strange and systematic universe be incapable of giving a new life mankind?

The word “Khallaaq” means He who creates many may mean that God is always creating and creates something new every day and then destroys some that exist.

There is a new origin and a new end every day and this is why the word “Khallaaq’ which is a hyperbole is used for it.

The word “Aleem” also points to the fact that the re-gathering of human beings is not a difficult issue for God because of His knowledge even after they die, become dust whose particles are scattered just as it is not difficult for Him to keep the accounts of their deeds in this life (It should be noted that the word “Aleem” here is mentioned for emphasis as a hyperbole because it is attached to the word “Khallaaq”.

In the 5th and final verse the deniers of the Day of Judgment have been answered in another manner of sense and experience. Qura’n speaks to the Messenger: “Say, “Traverse the earth and see, is it not He who created the heavens and the earth and is able to create the like of them? Yes indeed, He is the all-knowing Supreme Creator.”

“Traverse the earth” has been used to denote that the earth contains the signs of life created on Day One and the modern scientists study these signs that are present and unravel their secrets. It may also mean to search for the signs of the origin of life because the study of various areas reveal many things and it is also possible it may be hinting at the cycle of creations that occurs every day on earth. Many creatures come into existence every day and while some die.

How can a God who has the power to create them be wary of re-creating the dead? This has been said to establish the possibility of recreation through God’s power.

There is a possibility that it may be hinting at the original creation of man and has been used to establish the possibility of re-creation. In such a case this verse will be included in the group of verses mentioned earlier but is a witness in itself of the original issue. From the explanation that we have given it is clear that Qura’n invites man to travel on earth. How can people observe the origin of creation when it took place million of years ago and is not visible today.

Three things have been mentioned about this question. (Reflect)

The point to note here is that the verse speaks of “later creation” or “Nasha’tal Akhirah”. Raghib says the word “Nishaa” means to create and shape something. It shows us that on the Day of Judgment there will some new creations and there will be some re-created ones.

1. Tafsir Kabeer vol.27 page 79

2. Tafsir Tabrisi vol.8 page 5109, Tafsir Qartabi vol. 8 page 5769 and Tafsir Ruhul Bayan vol.8 page 199.

3. Tafsir Majmaul Bayan, Kashaf, Ruhul Ma’ani for this verse.