Surah 'Abasa, Ayah 19

The Refutation against Whoever denies Life after Death

Allah rebukes those who deny the Resurrection and the Final Gathering.

قُتِلَ الإِنسَـنُ مَآ أَكْفَرَهُ

(Qutila mankind!) Ad-Dahhak reported from Ibn `Abbas that he said,

قُتِلَ الإِنسَـنُ

(Qutila mankind!) "May man be cursed." Abu Malik also made a similar statement. He said, "This refers to the rejecting type of man, due to his abundant denial without any supporting argument. Rather he denies simply because he thinks it is farfetched and because he lacks knowledge of it." Ibn Jurayj said,

مَآ أَكْفَرَهُ

(How ungrateful he is!) "This means none is worse in disbelief than he is." Qatadah said,

مَآ أَكْفَرَهُ

خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَ‌هُ (He created him, and designed him in due proportion..80:19). In other words, He has made him with a special design and with great wisdom. His stature, body-structure, his face, his length and breadth of the limbs, his joints, his eyes, nose and ears are all well-proportioned in their creation. If any limb or organ loses its proportion, man's face will go awry, and every activity will become a problem.

The word qaddara is derived from taqdir which is also used in the sense of 'predestination'. Taking the word in this sense, the verse may also mean here that when man is under creation in his mother's womb, Allah predetermines four things for him: his life span, his sustenance, his deeds and whether he would be miserable or happy [ as in the hadith of Ibn Mas’ ud ؓ recorded by Shaikhain ].