إِنَّهُ عَلىٰ رَجعِهِ لَقادِرٌ
Indeed He is able to bring him back.
EXEGESIS
In this verse, God emphatically proclaims that He is capable of bringing about a return. Rajʿ literally means to return something to its original state. Here, then, it should mean the return to life, which is the most fitting meaning considering the theme of accountability and the journey towards God. In this case, the suffix hi (him/it) in the word rajʿihi (his/its return) refers to man in verse 5. This would mean that God is capable of bringing back the same man that He initially created.
Even though God has not been mentioned directly in the surah, the pronoun He is referring to God as creation cannot be attributed to other than Him. This is similar to how verse 5 used the passive was created. This is because it is exceedingly obvious as to who has the power to do such things. This is a powerful literary device that causes the reader to admit this reality when asking themselves who could be capable of such feats.
It may also be noted that the verse, like countless others, is strong proof of a physical resurrection, since return (rajʿ) should be to a state similar to one’s former state.
EXPOSITION
Following the description of how man was created from such humble origins, God exhorts people to take heed from this and to realise that the same God who created all life can bring back the dead. The fact that a human being is created from the fusion of single ovum and sperm cell (as discussed in the previous verses), which then grows into a human being, is proof that God can resurrect a human being whose remains may have been scattered and destroyed by time.
As we have been highlighting, the previous three verses have been building up to this point. This verse continues with the theme of the journey, the climax of which is the meeting with God. In keeping with the theme of mystery, God does not begin by mentioning this point, but rather begins by presenting His proofs, the purpose of which becomes clear now that this verse is reached. The verse then both literarily and content-wise is a culmination point. Literarily, it is the apex towards which the previous verses have been taking us, and of course in its content it is referring to the apex of man’s journey towards God.
A climax is also an ideal opportunity to introduce a new theme, and here we first come across the final theme of the surah: resurrection, the culmination of the journey.
The verse also has within it a clever play on words as the return here is obviously speaking of resurrection, but in the light of the previous verses the return is also bringing to mind the process of birth, whereby the seminal fluid enters the woman, and returns out as a human child. In a similar way the dead corpse enters the bowels of the earth, and then one day exits those depths once again.
The verse also brings up an important question for theologians, namely the capability of God to return us back to life with the very same bodies that we had. When a human being dies, his body turns to dust and that dust then becomes a part of other creatures and sometimes even other human beings (often referred to as the problem of the ‘eater and the eaten’ (al-ākil wa al-maʾkūl). How then can God return both to life with the very same particles when those particles are shared between them?
Tabatabai, like many other theologians, suggests that it is not necessary for God to return us back to life with the exact same particles; rather, only a body like that which we used to have. What is important is that the soul is safeguarded and preserved and does not suffer from entropy and decay. For more on this latter notion see what we mentioned concerning his commentary on verse 4.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
- ʿIkramah and Mujāhid were of the opinion that the suffix hi (him/it) in the word rajʿihi (his/its return) refers to the liquid mentioned in verse 6. Based on this, the verse would mean: He is able to return it (to its place of origin, i.e. the loins (ṣulb) mentioned in verse 7).
- Al-Ḍaḥḥāk and Ibn Zayd were of the opinion that it means God is capable of returning man into the state of being (seminal) fluid.
- A similar yet slightly more elaborate version of this has also been attributed to al-Ḍaḥḥāk. This interpretation claims that the verse means God is capable of returning man to a young age, and from a young age to childhood, and from childhood to seminal fluid. A comparable opinion is ascribed to Ibn Abbas as well.
The above opinions all suffer from the fact that it makes little sense for God to claim that He is capable of returning seminal fluid back to its point of origin or to make an old man young, and eventually back to seminal fluid. Even though God is capable of everything, it would be a very strange proclamation to suddenly bring up, and one that does not relate to the context of the previous verses, nor to the thematic structure of the surah. It is an especially onerous interpretation considering that the very next verse says that this return will occur On the day when the secrets are examined, the day being the Day of Resurrection and Judgement.
[1] Tabrisi, 10/715.
[2] Zamakhshari, 4/735.
[3] Mizan, 20/260; Razi, 31/121.
[4] Maraghi, 30/115.
[5] Mizan, 20/259.
[6] Tabari, 30/93.
[7] Tabari, 30/93.
[8] Tabari, 30/93.
[9] Suyuti, 6/336.