'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then He made you into pairs. And no female conceives or gives birth except with His knowledge. And no one is granted a long life nor is his life decreased except in a record. Indeed, that is easy for Allah." This verse is a reminder of the attributes of Allah, the Most High, in the manner that has preceded. This discussion is indeed about the matter of idols and the resurrection of bodies from the graves. And He, exalted and glorified is He, said: He created you from dust, from where He created Adam, our father, peace be upon him. "Then from a sperm-drop," meaning through procreation from the semen of men. And pairs, it is said: its meaning is types, and it is said: He intended the marriage of men to women. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And no one is granted a long life"... The people have differed regarding the return of the pronoun in His saying: "And no one is decreased in his life." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and others said that it implies that it returns to "the one granted a long life," which is a generic name, and the intended meaning is not the one who is granted a long life. That is, the saying includes two individuals: one of them is granted a long life of one hundred years or so, and the other is decreased by being one year or so. This is the saying of Al-Dahhak and Ibn Zayd, but he returned the pronoun for brevity and conciseness. The complete statement would be to say: And no one is decreased in the life of the one granted a long life; because the term "the one granted a long life" is like saying: the one with a life span, as if he said: And no one is granted a long life nor is his life decreased. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also said, and Abu Malik and Ibn Jubair: the intended meaning is one individual, and to him the pronoun returns, meaning: what is granted to a person in life is not decreased, by counting what has passed of it. When a year passes, that is recorded, then another year, this is the decrease. Ibn Jubair said: What has passed of his life is the decrease, and what is to come is what is granted to him. It was narrated from Ka'b Al-Ahbar that he said: the meaning is: and no one is decreased in his life, meaning: he is not cut short due to the power of Allah, the Most High. And if He willed, He would have delayed that cause. It was narrated that he said: when Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was stabbed: "If Allah had been asked, He would have increased his term." The Muslims denied that and said: Indeed, Allah, the Most High, says: "So when their term comes, they will not delay it an hour." [Al-A'raf: 34] So he argued with this verse. And this is a weak and rejected statement, implying the belief in two terms, and the Mu'tazilah held on to it. Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, and Ibn Sirin read: "is decreased" in the form of the verb for the doer, meaning: Allah decreases. And Al-Hasan and Dawood read: "in his life" with a silent meem. And the record mentioned in the verse is the Preserved Tablet. And His saying: "Indeed, that" refers to the attainment of these lifetimes and the counting of their minutes and hours.