'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted, said: "So ask them, are they a greater creation or those We created? Indeed, We created them from sticky clay." "But you are amazed, and they mock." "And when they are reminded, they do not remember." "And when they see a sign, they mock." "And they said, 'This is nothing but clear magic.'" "When we have died and become dust and bones, will we be raised up?" "And our forefathers the former ones?" "Say, 'Yes, and you will be humiliated.'" The asking is a type of question, as if it is the question of one who is heeded by his words and makes it an argument. Likewise, their statements in this context do not allow them to say except that the creation of others from the nations, angels, humans, jinn, the heavens, the earth, the east, and others is greater than these addressed ones. And that the pronoun in "We created" refers to what has been previously mentioned. Mujahid and Qatadah and others said: In the manuscript of Ibn Mas'ud: "Or from our number," meaning from those who are lined up and others, and the heavens and the earth and what is between them. Likewise, Al-A'mash read, "Or from" with a softened 'm' without "or." Then He, the Exalted, informed with certainty about His creation of Adam, who is the father of mankind, and He added the creation from clay to all people since the father is created from it. Al-Tabari said: He created Adam from dust, water, fire, and air. All of this, when mixed, becomes sticky clay, which is the sticky one, meaning it adheres to what is near it and sticks to it. It is the clay like pottery. Ibn Abbas and Ikrimah expressed the sticky one as the noble, good one. The true meaning is what we have mentioned. It is said: a sticky blow and a sticky one mean the same thing. The majority read: "You are amazed" with the 't' opened, meaning, O Muhammad, from their turning away from the truth and their blindness to guidance, and that they are disbelievers despite what you have brought them from Allah. Hamzah and Al-Kisai read with the 't' closed, and it was narrated from Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Wathab, Al-Nakha'i, Talhah, Sufyan, Al-A'mash, and that is on the basis that He, the Exalted, is the one who is amazed. The meaning of that from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is a description of action, as His saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Allah is amazed at a people being led to Paradise in chains," and His saying: "Allah is amazed at a young man who has no inclination." It is merely an expression of what He shows in one aspect of Him. So the meaning of this verse is: But I am amazed at their misguidance and their bad creed, and I have made it for those who look into it and what is associated with it of my legislation and guidance as something to be amazed at. It was narrated from Shuraih that he denied this reading and said: Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, does not get amazed. Al-A'mash said: I mentioned that to Ibrahim, and he said: Indeed, Shuraih was impressed by his knowledge, and Abdullah is more knowledgeable than him. And Makki and Ali ibn Sulaiman in the book Al-Zahrawi said: It is a report from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, about himself, as if he said: "Say to them: I am amazed." And His saying: "And they mock" means: while they mock your prophethood and the truth that you have.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿ "They mock" ﴾ means: by the verse, which is the sign and indication. It has been narrated that it was revealed concerning Rukana, who was a polytheist man from Mecca. He met the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, on an empty mountain while he was grazing his sheep. He was the strongest of the people of his time. He said to him: O Rukana, if I throw you down, will you believe in me? He said: Yes. So he threw him down three times. Then he presented to him verses from the supplication of a tree and its response, and similar matters in which the words of the hadith differ. When he finished all of that, he did not believe. He came to Mecca and said: O Banu Hashim, compete with your companion against the people of the earth. So the verse was revealed concerning him and his likes. And "They mock" means: they seek to be among those who mock. It is permissible that it means: they mock, like His saying: ﴿ "And Allah is Self-Sufficient" ﴾ [Al-Taghabun: 6]. So the forms of فعل and استفعل can have the same meaning. And with this, Mujahid and Qatadah interpreted it. In some of the old readings, it is read as "They seek to bewitch" with a حاء that is not dotted. This is a phrase about what Rukana said; because he was bewitched by him, blessings and peace be upon him.

His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿ When we have died ﴾. Abu Ja'far, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Asim, and Abu Amr read it with a dammah on the meem, while the general public read it with a kasrah. Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Shaiba, and Nafi' read it with a kasrah. Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, and Nafi' read: "Or our fathers" with the waw being silent, which is the one for division or choice. The majority read it with a fathah, which is the conjunction waw that has been preceded by the alif of questioning.

Then He, glorified and exalted is He, commanded him to respond to their assertion with "Yes" and to add to his response that they will be in resurrection - in humiliation and disgrace. And "the one who is humiliated" is the one who is lowly and disgraced. The mention of the readings in the two questions has been previously stated multiple times.