His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We did not grant immortality to any human before you. So if you die, will they be immortal?" "Every soul will taste death, and We will test you with evil and good as a trial, and to Us you will be returned." It is said that the reason for this verse is that some Muslims said that Muhammad would not die and that he would be immortal. This reached the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and he denied it, and this verse was revealed. The meaning is: We have not granted immortality to anyone, nor will We grant it to you. No one should take revenge on the polytheists against you in this. Are they immortal if you die, so it would be valid for them to take revenge? It is also said that the reason for the verse is that the disbelievers of Mecca criticized the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, saying that he was merely a human who eats food and dies. How can his sending be valid? So the verse was revealed in response to them. The interrogative form is included in the meaning as a conditional response, and it was placed at the beginning of the sentence because the inquiry is the source of the speech. The intended meaning is: Are they immortal if you die? The 'fa' in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So if you die" is a conjunction of one sentence to another. One group read it as "mutta" with a damm on the meem, and another group read it as "mitta" with a kasr on it. His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Every soul" is a generality intended to be specific, and what is meant is every soul that is mortal. The "taste" here is metaphorical, and "We will test you" means: We will examine you. Evil was mentioned first because the trial with it is more common, and because it is the habit of the Arabs to mention the lesser and the worse first. Hence His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "He does not leave out a small or a great thing except that He has counted it" [Al-Kahf: 49], and hence His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So among them is the wrongdoer to himself, and among them is the moderate, and among them is the one who races in good deeds" [Fatir: 32]. So He began in dividing the community of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, with wrongdoing. Al-Tabari said from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: Indeed, good and evil were made general here in wealth and poverty, health and illness, obedience and disobedience, guidance and misguidance. The apparent meaning is that what is meant by good and evil here is what can be a trial and test, and that is the good of wealth and its evil, the good of the body and its evil, the good of this world in life and its evil. As for guidance and misguidance, they are not included in this, nor is obedience or disobedience; because whoever is guided, his guidance is not a test, rather his goodness has become clear. Based on this, in good and evil, there is that which is not a test, just as there is also a test with commands and prohibitions, and this is not included in this verse. And "trial" means: examination and revelation. Then He, exalted and majestic is He, informed about the return to Him and the rising from the graves, and in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And to Us you will be returned" is a warning. One group read it as "turja'oon" with a damm on the ta, and another group read it as "tarji'oon" with a fatha on it, and another group read it as "yurja'oon" with a damm on the ya, transitioning from addressing to the third person.