His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And among the people are those who argue about Allah without knowledge and follow every rebellious devil." "It has been decreed upon him that whoever takes him as a protector, he will mislead him and guide him to the punishment of the blazing fire." "O mankind, if you are in doubt about the resurrection, then indeed We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed, that We may make clear to you. And We settle in the wombs what We will for an appointed term, then We bring you out as infants, then you reach your maturity. And among you is he who is taken in death, and among you is he who is returned to the most decrepit age, so that he knows nothing after having had knowledge."

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And among the people..." The verse was said to have been revealed concerning Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith and Ubayy ibn Khalaf. It is also said to refer to Abu Jahl ibn Hisham. However, it subsequently encompasses anyone who possesses this characteristic. "Arguing" refers to disputing, and the term is derived from "jadal," which means to twist or entangle. The meaning is that he argues about the power of Allah and His attributes. The reason for the verse was the words of those who mentioned that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, does not resurrect the dead nor raise the bodies from the graves. The "devil" here refers to those who mislead them from among the jinn, and it is possible that the devil could be from among humans, directing towards his followers. The "rebellious" refers to one who is stripped of good and inclined towards evil. From it is the term "amrad," and a "mardā" tree is one that is bare of leaves, and a "mumarad" structure is one that is smoothened from glass, and a "mardā" rock is one that is slick. The pronoun in "upon him" refers back to "the devil," as stated by Qatadah, and it is possible that it refers back to "the arguer." The "that" in "that he misleads him" is in the position of a subject for the action whose doer has not been named, and the second "that" is an addition to the first, confirmed like it. It is said that it is a repetition for emphasis only, and it is objected that a thing is not confirmed except after its completion, and the completion of the first "that" is only by its connection to the saying: "the blazing fire," and likewise it cannot be added to. Sibawayh states in this regard that it is a substitute. It is said that the second "that" is the news of a deleted subject, the estimation of which is: "his affair is that he misleads him," and Abu Ali estimated it as: "he has the ability to mislead him."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It appears to me that the pronoun in the first "that" refers to the devil, and in the second to "who" which is the protector. His saying: "and guides him" means: he shows him the way to that, and it does not mean guidance in the absolute sense. Abu Amr read: "Indeed, whoever takes him as a protector, he will mislead him" with a kasrah in both instances.

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "O mankind, if you are in doubt about the resurrection..." This is an argument against the world regarding the first creation. Allah, exalted and majestic is He, presented in this verse two examples; if the observer considers them, he may allow in his mind the resurrection from the graves, then the report of the Shari'ah comes confirming the obligation of that and its occurrence. "Doubt" means uncertainty, and His saying: "if you are" is a conditional statement implying success. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: "the resurrection" with a fathah on the 'ain, which is a dialectical variation in "the resurrection" among the Basrians, while among the Kufans it is a simplification of "ba'tha."

And His saying: ﴿We created you from dust﴾ means Adam. Then He imposed the action upon them from where they are from his offspring. And His saying: ﴿Then from a drop﴾ means the sperm that comes from humans. And "the drop" applies to both a little water and a lot of it. And al-Naqqash said: The intended meaning is the drop of Adam. And His saying: ﴿Then from a clinging substance﴾ means from the blood, returning the drop to it in the womb, or that which is concurrent with the drop. And "the clinging substance" is the thick blood. It was said: "the clinging substance" is the one that is intensely red, and thus the blood was named for that reason. And His saying: ﴿Then from a morsel﴾ means a piece of flesh as much as can be chewed. And His saying: ﴿Formed﴾ means completed in structure, and "unformed" means not completed, that is, the one that falls. This was said by Mujahid, Qatadah, al-Sha'bi, and Abu al-Aliyah. The term is an exaggerated form of "created." And since the human being has differing members, each of which is specific to a good quality, in its entirety it weakens the action; because it has many qualities. Ibn Abi 'Ablah read: "formed" in the accusative and "unformed" in the accusative in the letter.

And this topic connects to the jurisprudence that the scholars differed regarding the mother of the child if she miscarries a piece that has not been formed. Is she the mother of the child by that? Malik, al-Awza'i, and others said: She is the mother of the child with the morsel if it is known that it is the morsel of the child. And al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifah said: Until a creation is evident in it, even if it is one member.

And His saying: ﴿So that We may make clear to you﴾, a group said: Its meaning is: So that We may clarify the matter of resurrection, and it is an interruption between the two statements. And this group read "We declare" in the nominative, meaning: And we declare, and this is the reading of the majority. And another group said: "So that We may make clear to you" means that the morsel is unformed and the women cast it away. Likewise, we make clear to the people that the stages in the womb are like this. And this group read: "And we declare" in the accusative, and likewise they read: "We bring you out" in the accusative, and this is the narration of al-Mufaddal from 'Asim. And Abu Amr al-Dani narrated that the narration of al-Mufaddal is with the ya in "He declares" and "He brings you out." The nominative is common in this interpretation, and the accusative is not permissible in the first interpretation. And Ibn Wathab read: "What We will" with a kasrah on the noon. And "the appointed term" differs according to each fetus; there are those who miscarry, and there are those whose matter is completed and they are born alive.

And the people differed regarding "the most severe" from eighteen, to thirty, to thirty-two, to thirty-six, to forty, to forty-five. The wording is said to be in common usage. So, the most severe for a human in general is not more severe than the orphan who is in the state of puberty. And "the most severe" in the verse can carry both meanings. The return to the lowest age is the occurrence of a person in his time and the deterioration of his strength until he cannot establish acts of worship, and the deterioration of his mind until he cannot establish what is required of him from beliefs. This is always associated with old age. And the lowest age may occur at a young age for a certain person who has not reached a state of weakness. It has been reported from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that the lowest age is seventy-five years. And there is a consideration in this. And if it is authentic from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, it should only be understood as: at most. For we often see many people at eighty years old who are not in the lowest age. And the majority read: "the age" (p-217) with a full pronunciation, while Nafi' read: "the age" with a light pronunciation of the meem, and there is a difference regarding him.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿so that he does not know﴾ means: so that he forgets his knowledge and understanding that he had with him, so he does not know anything of that. This is one example that confirms for the one who relies on it that the one capable of these precise transitions is capable of restoring those bodies that he created with these transitions to their original state.