Or [any] creation of that which is great within your breasts." And they will say, "Who will restore us?" Say, "He who brought you forth the first time." Then they will nod their heads toward you and say, "When is that?" Say, "Perhaps it will be soon -
Refutation of Those Who do not believe in Life after Death
Allah tells us about the disbelievers who think it very unlikely that the Resurrection will happen and who say, in a tone of denial,
أَءِذَا كُنَّا عِظَـماً وَرُفَـتاً
(When we are bones and fragments.) meaning earth. This was the view of Mujahid. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that it means dust.
أَءِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ خَلْقاً جَدِيداً
(should we really be resurrected (to be) a new creation) meaning, on the Day of Resurrection after we have disintegrated and become nothing, and have been forgotten. Allah tells us about them elsewhere:
A prophet being affected by magic is as possible as being affected by sickness. Therefore, blessed prophets are not devoid of or detached from human characteristics. For instance, they could be wounded, run temperature or feel pain. Similarly, they could also be affected by magic because, that too, is triggered by the influence of physical causes, such as those of the Jinn. And it also stands proved from Hadith that there was an occasion when the Holy Prophet ﷺ was affected by magic. As for the disbelievers calling him 'bewitched' ('mashur' ) in verse 47 which the Qur'an has refuted for the reason that they really meant to call him 'insane.' (Bayan al-Qur'an) Therefore, the Hadith of magic is not contradictory.1
The call of the Prophet Muhammad was supported by such strong arguments that the common people of Arabia were awed by it. Seeing this, the Arab leaders felt afraid that, if the majority of the people converted to the new religion, their leadership would come to an end. They, therefore, employed a strategy to keep people away from it. They said that the great impact the Prophet’s words had was due to his being possessed. They said, moreover, that the power of his words did not stem from his having discovered some truth, but from his possessing magical powers. That is, it was a mere matter of oratorical prowess rather than the communication of truth. In this way the majestic words of the Quran reflecting Truth came to mean to them a magic spell wrought by an individual. Those who fail to judge such a call on the basis of its merit but look at it rather from the point of view of whether the words of the call support or reject their own stand, shall never succeed in finding the truth.
Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.
![Surah Al-Isra 17:51 in Arabic with its translation: “Or [any] creation of that which is great within your breasts." And they will say, "Who will restore us?" Say,…”](/surah/al-isra/51/image.jpg)