Smoke, The Evident Smoke — Verse 35

‘It that death after which there is life is nothing more than our first death that is when they were sperm-drops and we shall not be resurrected we shall not be raised alive after the second one.

Refutation of Those Who deny the Resurrection Here Allah denounces the idolators for their denial of the Resurrection and their belief that there is nothing after this life and no life or resurrection after death, which they based on the fact that their forefathers had died and had not returned. They said, If the resurrection is true, فَأْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَا إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ (Then bring back our forefathers, if you speak the truth!) This is false evidence and a specious argument, for the resurrection will happen on the Day of Judgement, not in this world; it will happen when this world has ended and ceased to be. Allah will bring all creatures back, created anew. He will make the evildoers fuel for the fire of Hell, and on that Day you will be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger will be a witness over you. Then Allah threatens them and warns them of the irresistible torment other idolators like who denied the resurrection, suffered. Such as the people of Tubba`, i.e., Saba'. Allah destroyed them, wreaked havoc upon their land and scattered them here and there throughout the land, as we have already seen in Surah Saba'. This was brought about because the idolators denied the Resurrection. Here too, the idolaters are compared to them. They Tubba` were Arab descendants of Qahtan, just as these people (Quraysh) were Arab descendants of `Adnan. Among the people of Himyar -- who are also known as Saba' -- when a man became their king, they called him Tubba`, just as the title Chosroes was given to the king of Persia, Caesar to the king of the Romans, Fir`awn to the disbelieving ruler of Egypt, Negus to the king of Ethiopia, and so on among other nations. But it so happened that one of the Tubba` left Yemen and went on a journey of conquest until he reached Samarqand, expanding his kingdom and domain. He is the one who founded Al-Hirah. It is agreed that he passed through Al-Madinah during the days of Jahiliyyah. He fought its inhabitants but they resisted him; they fought him by day and supplied him with food by night, so he felt ashamed before them and refrained from harming them. He was accompanied by two Jewish rabbis who advised him and told him that he would never prevail over this city, for it would be the place to which a Prophet would migrate towards the end of time. So he retreated and took them (the two rabbis) with him to Yemen. When he passed by Makkah, he wanted to destroy the Ka`bah, but they told him not to do that either. They told him about the significance of this House, that it had been built by Ibrahim Al-Khalil, peace be upon him, and that it would become of great importance through that Prophet who would be sent towards the end of time. So he respected it, performed Tawaf around it, and covered it with a fine cloth. Then he returned to Yemen and invited its people to follow the religion of guidance along with him. At that time, the religion of Musa, peace be upon him, was the religion followed by those who were guided, before the coming of the Messiah, peace be upon him. So the people of Yemen accepted the religion of guidance along with him. `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «مَا أَدْرِي تُبَّعٌ نَبِيًّا كَانَ، أَمْ غَيْرَ نَبِي» (I do not know whether Tubba` was a Prophet or not.) It was narrated that Tamim bin `Abdur-Rahman said: " `Ata' bin Abi Rabah said, `Do not revile Tubba`, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade reviling him."' And Allah knows best.

إن هؤلاء المشركين مِن قومك -أيها الرسول- ليقولون: ما هي إلا موتتنا التي نموتها، وهي الموتة الأولى والأخيرة، وما نحن بعد مماتنا بمبعوثين للحساب والثواب والعقاب.

يقول تعالى منكرا على المشركين فى إنكارهم البعث والمعاد وأنه ما ثم إلا هذه الحياة الدنيا ولا حياة بعد الممات ولا بعث ولا نشور ويحتجون بأبائهم الماضين الذين ذهبوا فلم يرجعوا فإن كان البعث حقا "فأتوا بأبائنا إن كنتم صادقين".

و ( إِنْ ) فى قوله - تعالى - : ( إِنْ هِيَ إِلاَّ مَوْتَتُنَا الأولى ) نافية . أى : هؤلاء الكافرين ليقولن على سبيل الجزم والتكذيب للبعث : ما الموتة التى نموتها فى نهاية حايتنا الدنيوية ، إلا الموتة النهائية لا حياة بعدها ولا بعث نشور .ومرادهم من الأولى : السابقة المتقدمة على الموعد الذى يوعدونه للبعث والنشر .قال بعض العلماء : وذلك أنهم لما وعدوا بعد الحياة الدنيا حالتين أخريين .الأولى منها الموت ، والأخرى حياة البعث ، أثبتوا الحالة الأولى وهى الموت ، ونفوا ما بعدها .وسموها أولى مع أنهم اعتقدوا أنه لا شئ بعدها ، لأنهم نزلوا جحدهم على الإِثبات فجعلوها أولى على ما ذكرت لهم . .وقوله : ( وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنشَرِينَ ) تأكيد لما سبقه . أى : قالوا ليس هنا من موت سوى الموت المزيل لحياتنا ، ثم لا بعث ولا حساب ولا نشور بعد ذلك .يقال : أنشر الله - تعالى - الموتى نشورا ، إذا أحياهم بعد موتهم ، فهم منشرون .

حدثنا بشر, قال: ثنا يزيد, قال: ثنا سعيد, عن قتادة ( إِنَّ هَؤُلاءِ لَيَقُولُونَ إِنْ هِيَ إِلا مَوْتَتُنَا الأولَى وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ ) قال: قد قال مشركو العرب ( وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ ) أي: بمبعوثين.

( إن هي إلا موتتنا الأولى ) أي لا موتة إلا هذه التي نموتها في الدنيا ، ثم لا بعث بعدها . وهو قوله : ( وما نحن بمنشرين ) بمبعوثين بعد موتتنا .

إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا مَوْتَتُنَا الْأُولَى وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ (35) وضمير { هي } ضمير الشأن ويقال له : ضمير القصة لأنه يستعمل بصيغة المؤنث بتأويل القصة ، أي لا قصة في هذا الغرض إلا الموتة المعروفة فهي موتة دائمة لا نشور لنا بعدها .وهذا كلام من كلماتهم في إنكار البعث فإن لهم كلمات في ذلك ، فتارة ينفون أن تكون بعد الموت حياة كما حكى عنهم في آيات أخرى مثل قوله تعالى : { وقالوا إن هي إلا حياتنا الدنيا } [ الأنعام : 29 ] ، وتارة ينفون أن يطرأ عليهم بعد الموتة المعروفة شيء غيرها يعنون بذلك شيئاً ضد الموتة وهو الحياة بعد الموتة . فلهم في نَفْي الحياة بعد الموت أفانين من أقوال الجحود ، وهذا القصر قصر حقيقي في اعتقادهم لأنهم لا يؤمنون باعتراء أحوال لهم بعد الموت .وكلمة { هؤلاء } حيثما ذكر في القرآن غير مسبوق بما يصلح أن يشار إليه : مراد به المشركون من أهل مكة كما استنبطناه ، وقدمنا الكلام عليه عند قوله تعالى : { فإن يكفر بها هؤلاء } في سورة الأنعام ( 89 ) .ووصف { الأولى } مراد به السابقة مثل قوله : { وأنه أهلك عاداً الأولى } [ النجم : 50 ] ومنه قوله تعالى : { ولقد ضلّ قبلهم أكثرُ الأولين } [ الصافات : 71 ] . ونظيرها قوله تعالى : { أفما نحن بميتين إلاّ موتَتَنا الأولى وما نحن بمعذبين } [ الصافات : 58 ، 59 ] .

يخبر تعالى { إِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ } المكذبين يقولون مستبعدين للبعث والنشور: { إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا مَوْتَتُنَا الْأُولَى وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ } أي: ما هي إلا الحياة الدنيا فلا بعث ولا نشور ولا جنة ولا نار

إن هي إلا موتتنا الأولى ابتداء وخبر ، مثل : إن هي إلا فتنتك ، إن هي إلا حياتنا الدنيا وما نحن بمنشرين أي بمبعوثين .

In every period the root cause of a man’s going astray has been his loss of belief in the life after death. The disbelief of some finds expression in their utterances. Others may not openly express it, but their hearts are devoid of the belief that they have to rise after death and face the reckoning of their deeds before God. The reason for this misunderstanding is generally that man, in view of his strong position in this world, presumes that he is never going to lose his elevated status, though the history of past nations ought to be enough to dispel this illusion. Tubba‘ was the title of the Kings of the ancient Himyar tribe of Yemen. These people enjoyed prominence from 300 B.C. to 115 B.C. and their greatness was much talked about in ancient Arabia. The rise and fall of the Tubba‘ people, a piece of history well-known to the initial addressees of the Quran (the Quraysh), gave proof of the fact that the law of ‘crime and punishment’ was prevalent in this world. Similarly, for every community there is a ‘Tubba‘’ which, by its example, teaches them a lesson. But, man is wont to take such occurrences as being nothing out of the ordinary. The result is that he does not learn those lessons which, by God’s will, are latent in events.

وَآتَيْنَاهُم مِّنَ الْآيَاتِ مَا فِيهِ بَلَاءٌ مُّبِينٌ And We gave them the clear signs in which there was a manifest blessing. (44:33) " The word 'signs' refers to the miracles of the staff, the shining hand and others. The word 1 bala' has two senses: (1) blessing; and (2) trial. Here both senses are possible. (Qurtubi).

There is) in our life (naught but our first death, and we shall not be raised again) and we shall not be brought back to life after we die.