His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And when Ibrahim said, 'My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.' He said, 'Do you not believe?' He said, 'Yes, but I want my heart to be at peace.' He said, 'Take four birds and draw them to you. Then place a portion of them on every hill. Then call them; they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.'﴾

The operative word in 'when' is an implied verb, the meaning of which is: 'and remember.' People have differed as to why this statement was made by Ibrahim, peace be upon him. The majority said: Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was never in doubt about Allah's ability to give life to the dead. Rather, he sought to witness it. Al-Tabari translated in his tafsir and said: Others said: He asked this of his Lord because he doubted Allah's ability to give life to the dead. He included under this translation from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: 'There is no verse in the Qur'an more hopeful for me than this.' He mentioned from Ata ibn Abi Rabah that he said: 'Something entered the heart of Ibrahim similar to what enters the hearts of people, so he said: 'My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.' He mentioned the hadith of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'We are more deserving of doubt than Ibrahim.' Then Al-Tabari favored this saying, which aligns with the apparent meaning of the hadith, and said: 'When Ibrahim saw the carcass being eaten by the fish and the beasts of the land, the devil cast into his soul and he said: When will Allah gather these from the bellies of these?'

As for those who said that Ibrahim was not in doubt, they differed regarding the reason for his question. Qatadah said: Ibrahim saw a creature that the beasts had torn apart, and he was astonished and asked this question. Al-Dahhak said similarly, stating: And he, peace be upon him, knew that Allah is capable of giving life to the dead. Ibn Zayd said: He saw the creature being divided by the beasts and the fish because it was on the edge of the sea. Ibn Ishaq said: Rather, the reason was that when he parted from Nimrod and he said to him: 'I give life and cause death,' he reflected on that reality and metaphor and asked this question. Al-Suddi and Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: Rather, the reason for this question is that when he was given the glad tidings that Allah had taken him as a friend, he wanted to test the validity of the friendship with this question, for a friend indicates what no one else would indicate. Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: 'But I want my heart to be at peace' means with the friendship.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: What al-Tabari has translated is rejected by me, and what he included under the translation is interpreted. As for the saying of Ibn Abbas: "It is the most hopeful verse," it is from the perspective of it being a proof of Allah, the Exalted, and the question of reviving in this world, and it is not the place for that. It is permissible to say: it is the most hopeful verse for his saying: "Did you not believe?" meaning that faith is sufficient and does not require further refinement or inquiry. As for the saying of Ata ibn Abi Rabah: "A part of what enters the hearts of people entered the heart of Ibrahim," its meaning is from the love of witnessing, and that is because souls are eager to see what they have been informed of. For this reason, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The news is not like witnessing." As for the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "We are more deserving of doubt than Ibrahim," its meaning is that if there were doubt, we would be more deserving of it, and we do not doubt. So, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, is more likely not to doubt. The hadith is based on negating doubt from Ibrahim. What has been narrated in it from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "That is pure faith," is indeed in the fleeting thoughts that do not remain. As for doubt, it is a pause between two matters, with no superiority of one over the other, and that is what is negated from the friend, peace be upon him.

And the revival of the dead is established by hearing. And indeed, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was more knowledgeable about it. This is indicated by his saying: "My Lord who gives life and causes death." So, doubt is far from one whose feet are firmly established in faith alone. How about at the rank of prophethood and friendship? The prophets are protected from major sins and from the minor sins that involve disgrace, by consensus.

And if you reflect on his question, peace be upon him, and the rest of the words of the verse, it does not give rise to doubt. This is because the inquiry with "how" is about the state of something that is present and firmly established in existence for both the questioner and the questioned—like your saying: how did Zayd know? And how did he weave the cloth? And similar to this. And when you say: how is your cloth? And how is Zayd? The question is about a state of his conditions. And "how" can also be a statement about something whose nature is to be inquired about with "how," like your saying: how you wished, so be. And similar to the saying of al-Bukhari: how did the revelation begin?

'How' in this verse is merely an inquiry about the state of resurrection. Resurrection is established, but when we find some deniers of the existence of something, they may express their denial by questioning the state of that thing, knowing that it is not valid. Thus, it follows that the thing itself is not correct. An example of this is when a claimant says: 'I will lift this mountain.' The denier responds: 'Show me how you will lift it.' This is a figurative way of speaking, and its meaning is a rhetorical concession, as if he is saying: 'Assume that you can lift it, show me how?' When there was this figurative sharing in the words of the Friend, peace be upon him, Allah clarified that for him, and prompted him to clarify the truth, so he said to him: 'Do you not believe?' He said: 'Yes.' Thus, the matter was completed, and he was freed from all doubt. Then he, peace be upon him, justified his question with the need for reassurance.

And His saying, exalted is He: 'Do you not believe?' means: absolute belief, which includes the aspect of resurrecting the dead. The 'and' is a conjunction that indicates a state, accompanied by the letter of affirmation.

And 'to be reassured' means: to be at peace with his thoughts. Reassurance is a state of balance and tranquility in that balance. The reassurance of the limbs is known, as he, peace be upon him, said: 'Then bow until you are reassured in your bowing,' and reassurance of the heart is that his thoughts settle on the believed matter. Thinking about the state of resurrection is not prohibited, just as we today are allowed to think about it; rather, it is a thought that contains lessons. The Friend wanted to witness it, so that his thoughts would move towards the state of resurrection, whether by the command of the edible animal or by the words of Nimrod: 'I give life and cause death.' Al-Tabari said: The meaning of 'to be reassured' is: to be certain, and it has been narrated similarly from Sa'id ibn Jubayr. It has also been narrated from him: 'to increase in certainty,' and this was said by Ibrahim and Qatadah. Some of them said: 'to increase in faith along with my faith.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: There can be no increase in this meaning except for tranquility of thought; otherwise, certainty does not divide. It has been narrated that the four birds that Ibrahim took were the rooster, the peacock, the dove, and the raven. Ibn Ishaq mentioned this from some of the early scholars, and this was said by Mujahid, Ibn Jurayj, and Ibn Zayd. Ibn Abbas said: Instead of the raven, it was the karki. It has been narrated in the stories of this verse that the Friend, peace be upon him, took these birds as he was commanded, slaughtered them, then cut them into small pieces. He mixed that with blood and feathers, then placed from that mixed collection a portion on each mountain. He stood where he could see those parts and held the heads of the birds in his hand, then said: 'Come by the permission of Allah.' The parts flew together, the blood to the blood, and the feathers to the feathers until they were reunited as they were at first, remaining without heads. Then he repeated the call, and they came running until their bodies were placed on their heads, and they flew by the permission of Allah, exalted is He.

Hamzah read alone: "So bring them to you" with a kasrah on the sad, and the others read with a dammah. It is said: I 'surt' the thing means I cut it, and from it is the saying of Ru'ba:

We have become by it the judgment and the judges are exhausted..............

And from it is the saying of al-Khansa:

If only the one you encountered had a hug ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ the noses would remain from it while it is being embraced.

(p-54) That is: they are cut off. It is also said: I 'surt' the thing means I inclined it, and from it is the saying of the poet:

A branch that 'surs' the neck, a dark one ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ for him is a noise like the noise of the debtor.

And from it is the saying of the Arab regarding the description of women: "They are to youth 'surs' and from immorality 'light'". So all of this is in the dammah of the sad.

It is also said regarding these two meanings of "cutting and inclination": I 'surt' the thing with a kasrah of the sad, I 'asiru' it, and from it is the saying of the poet:

And a branch that 'surs' the neck, a dark one ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ on the vine are the clusters of the grapes.

So in the word there are two languages that it was read with.

Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said regarding this verse: "Bring them to you" means: Cut them. And Ikrimah and Ibn Abbas - in some of what has been narrated from him - said that it is a word in Nabataean meaning: Cut them. And this was said by al-Dahhak. And Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali said: It is in Syriac. And Qatadah said: "Bring them to you": Separate them. And Ibn Ishaq said: Its meaning is: Cut them, and it is the 'sur' in the speech of the Arabs. And (p-55) 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: So "bring them to you" means: Gather them to you. And Ibn Zayd said: Its meaning is: Collect them. And it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas that its meaning is: Secure them. So the interpreters have interpreted the word with the meaning of cutting and with the meaning of inclination. So His saying: "to you" in the interpretation of cutting is related to "take" and in the interpretation of inclination and the dammah is related to "bring them to you". And in the speech there is something left that the apparent meaning indicates, its estimation is: So incline them to you and cut them. And a group read "So bring them to you" with a dammah on the sad and a shaddah on the open ra, as if he is saying: So tighten them. And from it is the 'surr' of the dinars.

And a group read: "So bring them to you" with a kasrah on the sad and a shaddah on the open ra, and its meaning is: Call them from your saying: The door and the pen 'sarr' when it makes a sound, as mentioned by al-Naqqash. Ibn Jinni said: And it is a strange reading, and that is because to do with a kasrah of the 'ain in the transitive doubled is rare. And its door is to do with a dammah of the 'ain like 'shadd' and similar to it. However, there has come from it: The news 'namma' it and 'yanimmu' it, and the war 'harra' it and 'yahruru' it, and from it is the saying of al-A'sha:

Let the saying come to you until it 'hirs' it... ∗∗∗................

To other than that, in few letters, Ibn Jinni said: As for the reading of Ikrimah with the 's' pronounced with a dammah, it is possible for the 'r' to be pronounced with a dammah, fatha, or kasrah, like 'madda' and 'shadda'. The preferred reading is the dammah on the 'r' because of the dammah on the 'h' afterwards. Al-Mahdawi and others said: It has been narrated from Ikrimah that the 's' is pronounced with a fatha and the 'r' is pronounced with a kasrah. This means 'hold them', from their saying: 'sara yasri' if he held back, and from it is the 'musra' sheep. The interpreters differed in the meaning of His saying: 'Then make on every mountain from them a portion.' Abu Hamzah narrated from Ibn Abbas that the meaning is: make a portion on every quarter of the quarters of the world, as if the meaning is: place them in the four corners of the earth. In this saying, there is distance. Qatadah and Al-Rabi' said: The meaning is: and make on four mountains, on every mountain a portion from that scattered group, just as Allah raises these birds from these mountains, so He raises the creation on the Day of Resurrection from the quarters of the world and all its regions. The majority read: 'portion' with a hamzah. Abu Ja'far read 'juzzan' with a shadda on the 'z' throughout the Qur'an, and it is a language in stopping. Abu Ja'far conducted the connection as it should be. Ibn Jurayj and Al-Suddi said: He was commanded to place it on the mountains where the birds and beasts would fly to it and approach it when the creature eats, and they said: There were seven mountains, so he divided that portion of the flesh of the birds into seven parts. Mujahid said: Rather, he was commanded to place on every mountain near him a portion. Al-Tabari said: Its meaning is without limiting the mountains by number, but they are those which Ibrahim would reach at the time Allah commanded him to distribute that among them, for the term indicates comprehensiveness. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is unlikely that he would be tasked with all the mountains of the world, for his sight would not encompass that. Thus, what Al-Tabari went towards is good and established, and Allah knows best which of that was. The meaning of the verse is that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was in a position to see the portions in his place, and he sees how they were gathered, and thus the lesson was valid for him - and his command with their supplication while they are dead is only for the verse to be close to him, and to be due to his state, and he sees that he was intended by presenting that to him. For this reason, Allah, the Exalted, made their movement towards him a striving, as it is the movement of the earnest seeker towards what he is striving for. It was an exaggeration that Ibrahim saw their seriousness in his intention and the response to his supplication, and if they had come to him walking, this indication would have remained, and if they had come flying, that would have been on the basis of their nature. This is stranger than that. Then he, peace be upon him, stood upon the knowledge of the honor that includes the ability, and upon the wisdom by which everything is perfected.