قُل يُحييهَا الَّذي أَنشَأَها أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلقٍ عَليمٌ

Say: ‘He will revive them who produced them the first time, and He has knowledge of all creation.

EXEGESIS

Anshaʾa (produced) signifies producing out of nothing. Thus, God caused its existence from nothing, originated it, and created it for the first time from non-existence.

EXPOSITION

The answer to the argument of the ignorant and arrogant person who crushed the decayed bone in front of the Prophet was that if God created humans from nothing then He can indeed recreate them from their decayed bones and their scattered dust. If this bone and all other human and animal bones, limbs, organs, eyes, ears, minds, and hearts were made from an insignificant droplet of water, which in turn was made out of dust, which in turn was made out of nothing, is its Creator not able to bring rotten bones back to life again?!

He has knowledge of all creation can have two meanings. One is that He has the knowledge to create anything that He wishes. By looking around us, we realise how valid this claim is. Indeed, He created whatever He wished out of atoms and cells. He has created huge and tiny creatures, some as small as unicellular organisms. So, He has knowledge of all creation.

The other meaning is that He has knowledge of all created beings. Thus, scattered pieces of crumbled bones do not escape His knowledge; He can gather them and bring them together for resurrection. A non-believer asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘How can individuals be resurrected when their bodies have decayed or been consumed by wild animals and insects, or become part of the soil and made into bricks for building walls?’ The Imam replied: ‘The one who created them from nothing and fashioned them without a previous mould is capable of bringing them back to existence, just as He did the first time … The souls are placed in their specific locations. The souls of the righteous are in an illuminated and spacious place, while the souls of the corrupt are in a dark and narrow place. At the same time, the body disintegrates into the earth from which it originated. Everything consumed and excreted by the animals and insects is preserved in the ground in the knowledge of God, who is aware of the size and weight of every cell in the depths of the earth. The cells of sentient beings are like gold nuggets distinct from the rocks and soil surrounding them or like lumps of butter separating from milk. Thereafter, the cells of each being will come together and, with God’s permission, proceed towards the place where their soul is located. With the permission of the Fashioner, all the bodies will reassume their former features, and the souls will once again occupy them. In this way, the individual is once again complete and becomes self-aware, which means that cells that once possessed life shall eternally maintain their identity. Once conditions are favourable, they will easily separate from the other elements around them, and according to the rules that God has ordained for that day, the dispersed cells of every human being will come together and reassemble. For the sake of understanding, one can imagine a heap of dust containing scattered pieces of iron, and if a magnet hovers over this heap, it will quickly gather all these pieces of iron, knowing that a magnet is not even a living being. Therefore, a simple and single command of God can gather the scattered particles of the human body effortlessly from wherever they are on the earth.’^{‎[1]Amthal, 14/247.}

Of course, not all the cells may be available as they may have been consumed and become parts of other humans; that is why new cells are added to what has remained. Imam al-Ṣādiq explains in another hadith: ‘When God wills to resurrect human beings, he will cause it to rain for forty days, during which time their bones will gather and flesh will form over them.’

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam Ali (a) said regarding the end of time: ‘He would uproot the mountains and scatter them, which would crush each other out of awe of His glory and fear of His might. Then He would resurrect everyone from it to recreate them after they had decayed and gather them after being scattered. Then [after their resurrection] He would distinguish between them for the reckoning of their hidden deeds and their secret acts, where He would divide them into two groups, to reward these and punish them.’^{‎[2]Nahj, sermon 109.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise – let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy – your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.^{‎[3]Isaiah 26:19.}
2. Ezekiel says: “The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army. Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”^{‎[4]Ezekiel 37:1-14.}

[1] Amthal, 14/247.
[2] Nahj, sermon 109.
[3] Isaiah 26:19.
[4] Ezekiel 37:1-14.