ما خَلقُكُم وَلا بَعثُكُم إِلّا كَنَفسٍ واحِدَةٍ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَميعٌ بَصيرٌ
Your creation and your resurrection are not but as of a single soul. Indeed, Allah is all-hearing, all-seeing.
EXPOSITION
Ṭabrisī narrates from Muqātil, while Ali ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qummī narrates from Abū al-Jārūd, from Imam al-Bāqir (a), that the Quraysh said to the Prophet: ‘God has created us in stages. First from sperm (nuṭfah), then into a hanging-like creature (ʿalaqah), then into a chewed up creature (muḍghah), then flesh (laḥm). So how will He resurrect us into a new creation in one hour?’ At that, this verse was revealed.
Perhaps what the Quraysh thought of, in terms of the problem, is greater than what was articulated by them. This is that God created the creation from its inception up until now, spanning many centuries. So how would He be able to recreate all of creation in one day and in one hour when so many had died and decayed into the earth beyond all recognition? Consequently, God furnished them an answer with this verse: Your creation and your resurrection are not but as of a single soul, meaning the creation and resurrection of all of mankind on one day is like the creation and the resurrection of a single soul. This is because the relationship of His power with one created thing is as His power’s relationship with unlimited creations, for His power and ability do not depend on tools, equipment, and devices; rather, His power and ability are essential to His self, regarding which His will is sufficient. Multiplicity does not distract or impede Him; the one and the many are the same for Him. Furthermore, He mentions creation and resurrection together to show that originating something and bringing it back after its extinction is equally easy for Him, and all of that is due to His extensive power and capability, for God only needs to command a thing once and it will be. Our Command is naught but one, like the blinking of an eye (54:50). Likewise, the resurrection shall be but a single cry (36:53, 79:13). Thus it is no more difficult for God to create all human beings and to resurrect them than it is for God to create and resurrect a single human being. In this way, this verse reaffirms the idea that God’s creative power would not and could not be exhausted by the process of creation or resurrection, as mentioned in verse 27.
The basis of the problem is that the Quraysh were analogously comparing God’s ability and power, which do not run out, with a human being’s limited power and ability! Indeed, God points out disappointedly in 22:74 that the disbelievers do not appreciate Him as He deserves. This is because every capable being other than God is capable of a thing on the one hand, and incapable of many other things on the other. The thing such a being may be capable of may be something that either requires no effort on its part, some easy effort, or a lot of strenuous effort. However, the being of God is capable of everything. The significant and the insignificant are all the same for Him and His power. The creation of the entirety of mankind altogether is as the creation of one of them, and similarly so is their resurrection for reckoning and recompense. Imam Ali (a) is attributed to have said: ‘Crafting any part of what He crafted caused Him no hardship. Creating what He created caused Him no fatigue.’
The relationship of this verse with the previous one is clear, which is that the one whose creative words are immeasurable thereby denoting His extensive power, is capable of recreating the entirety of creation, which is in fact just some of His words, in a day.
Then God points out that He is all-hearing, all-seeing. He hears everything, including what these people say, and He sees everything, including what they do and what they conceal. Thus the terminal part of this verse contains a threat directed at the opponents.
However, it has been argued that this kind of conclusion may seem rather odd for this verse and perhaps an ending such as ‘indeed God has power over all things’ or ‘indeed God is all-powerful, all-mighty’ would be more appropriate, since the terminal part of a statement is supposed to provide a rationale for what went before it. What do the attributes all-hearing, all-seeing have to do with creation and resurrection? The following answer has been suggested which is that the terminal part of this verse is responding to an assumed objection to verse 23: To Us will be their return, and We will inform them about what they have done. Indeed, Allah knows best what is in the breasts. The objection is that resurrection is in order to recompense humanity of their deeds but these deeds are innumerable and intertwined with each other! How will or how can God separate them in order to recompense people? The terminal part of this verse responds by asking how any words or deeds can be concealed from Him when He is all-hearing and all-seeing and nothing escapes Him. Thus the end part of verse 23 and the end part of this verse together respond in a consummate manner that God knows best what is in the breasts of mankind and He knows well their external acts in that He is all-hearing, all-seeing.
[1] Tabrisi, 8/504; Munyah, 21/148.
[2] Qummi, 2/167.
[3] Munyah, 21/148.
[4] Munyah, 21/148.
[5] Tabrisi, 8/504; Safi, 4/150; Munyah, 21/148.
[6] Munyah, 21/148.
[7] Mizan, 16/233.
[8] Tibyan, 8/285; Tabrisi, 8/504; Mizan, 16/233.
[9] Tibyan, 8/285; Tabrisi, 8/504.
[10] Munyah, 21/148.
[11] Kashif, 4/168.
[12] Nahj, sermon 186.
[13] Munyah, 21/148.
[14] Tibyan, 8/285; Tabrisi, 8/504; Munyah, 21/148.
[15] Tibyan, 8/285.
[16] Mizan, 16/233-234.