Al-Baqarah: 259

Ayah

Word by Word

أَوۡ

كَٱلَّذِي

like the one who

مَرَّ

passed

عَلَىٰ

قَرۡيَةٖ

a township

وَهِيَ

and it

خَاوِيَةٌ

(had) overturned

عَلَىٰ

عُرُوشِهَا

its roofs

قَالَ

He said

أَنَّىٰ

How

يُحۡيِۦ

(will) bring to life

هَٰذِهِ

this (town)

ٱللَّهُ

Allah

بَعۡدَ

after

مَوۡتِهَاۖ

its death

فَأَمَاتَهُ

Then he was made to die

ٱللَّهُ

(by) Allah

مِاْئَةَ

(for) a hundred

عَامٖ

year(s)

ثُمَّ

then

بَعَثَهُۥۖ

He raised him

قَالَ

He said

كَمۡ

How long

لَبِثۡتَۖ

(have) you remained

قَالَ

He said

لَبِثۡتُ

I remained

يَوۡمًا

(for) a day

أَوۡ

بَعۡضَ

a part

يَوۡمٖۖ

(of) a day

قَالَ

He said

بَل

Nay

لَّبِثۡتَ

you (have) remained

مِاْئَةَ

one hundred

عَامٖ

year(s)

فَٱنظُرۡ

Then look

إِلَىٰ

طَعَامِكَ

your food

وَشَرَابِكَ

and your drink

لَمۡ

(they did) not

يَتَسَنَّهۡۖ

change with time

وَٱنظُرۡ

and look

إِلَىٰ

حِمَارِكَ

your donkey

وَلِنَجۡعَلَكَ

and We will make you

ءَايَةٗ

a sign

لِّلنَّاسِۖ

for the people

وَٱنظُرۡ

And look

إِلَى

ٱلۡعِظَامِ

the bones

كَيۡفَ

how

نُنشِزُهَا

We raise them

ثُمَّ

then

نَكۡسُوهَا

We cover them

لَحۡمٗاۚ

(with) flesh

فَلَمَّا

Then when

تَبَيَّنَ

became clear

لَهُۥ

to him

قَالَ

he said

أَعۡلَمُ

I know

أَنَّ

that

ٱللَّهَ

Allah

عَلَىٰ

(is) on

كُلِّ

every

شَيۡءٖ

thing

قَدِيرٞ

All-Powerful

Translation

Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a hamlet, all in ruins to its roofs. He said: "Oh! how shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?" but Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He said: "How long didst thou tarry (thus)?" He said: (Perhaps) a day or part of a day." He said: "Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink; they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey: And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh." When this was shown clearly to him, he said: "I know that Allah hath power over all things."

Tafsir

"The Story of Uzayr

Allah's statement,

أَلَمۡ تَرَ

إِلَى الَّذِي حَأجَّ إِبۡرَاهِيمَ فِي رِبِّهِ

(Have you not looked at him who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord) means, ""Have you seen anyone like the person who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord!""

Then, Allah connected the Ayah,

أَوۡ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَى قَرۡيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

Or like the one who passed by a town in ruin up to its roofs,

to the Ayah above by using `or'.

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ali bin Abi Talib said that;

the Ayah meant Uzayr.

Ibn Jarir also reported it, and this explanation was also reported by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim from Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Sulayman bin Buraydah.

Mujahid bin Jabr said that;

the Ayah refers to a man from the Children of Israel, and the village was Jerusalem, after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it and killed its people.

وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ

(in ruin) means,

it became empty of people.

Allah's statement,

عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(up to its roofs)

indicates that the roofs and walls (of the village) fell to the ground.

Uzayr stood contemplating about what had happened to that city, after a great civilization used to inhabit it.

قَالَ أَنَّىَ يُحۡيِـي هَـَذِهِ اللّهُ بَعۡدَ مَوۡتِهَا

He said:""Oh! How will Allah ever bring it to life after its death!

because of the utter destruction he ﷺ and the implausibility of its returning to what it used to be.

فَأَمَاتَهُ اللّهُ مِيَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ

So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again).

The city was rebuilt seventy years after the man (Uzayr) died, and its inhabitants increased and the Children of Israel moved back to it. When Allah resurrected Uzayr after he died, the first organ that He resurrected were his eyes, so that he could witness what Allah does with him, how He brings life back to his body. When his resurrection was complete, Allah said to him, meaning through the angel,

قَالَ كَمۡ لَبِثۡتَ قَالَ لَبِثۡتُ يَوۡمًا أَوۡ بَعۡضَ يَوۡمٍ

He said:""How long did you remain (dead)!"" He (the man) said:""(Perhaps) I remained (dead) a day or part of a day.""

The scholars said that since the man died in the early part of the day and Allah resurrected him in the latter part of the day, when he ﷺ that the sun was still apparent, he thought that it was the sun of that very day. He said,

أَوۡ بَعۡضَ يَوۡمٍ

(""Or part of a day"").

قَالَ بَل لَّبِثۡتَ مِيَةَ عَامٍ فَانظُرۡ إِلَى طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمۡ يَتَسَنَّهۡ

He said:""Nay, you have remained (dead) for a hundred years, look at your food and your drink, they show no change.""

He had grapes, figs and juice, and he found them as he left them; neither did the juice spoil nor the figs become bitter nor the grapes rot.

وَانظُرۡ إِلَى حِمَارِكَ

And look at your donkey!

""How Allah brings it back to life while you are watching.""

وَلِنَجۡعَلَكَ ايَةً لِّلنَّاسِ

And thus We have made of you a sign for the people,

that Resurrection occurs.

وَانظُرۡ إِلَى العِظَامِ كَيۡفَ نُنشِزُهَا

Look at the bones, how We Nunshizuha,

meaning, collect them and put them back together.

In his Mustadrak, Al-Hakim, recorded that;

Kharijah bin Zayd bin Thabit said that his father said that the Messenger of Allah read this Ayah,

كَيۡفَ نُنشِزُهَا

(how We Nunshizuha).

Al-Hakim said; ""Its chain is Sahih and they (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.""

The Ayah was also read,

نُنشِرُهَا

""Nunshiruha""

meaning, bring them back to life, as Mujahid stated.

ثُمَّ نَكۡسُوهَا لَحۡمًا

And clothe them with flesh.

As-Suddi said,

""Uzayr observed the bones of his donkey, which were scattered all around him to his right and left, and Allah sent a wind that collected the bones from all over the area. Allah then brought every bone to its place, until they formed a full donkey made of fleshless bones. Allah then covered these bones with flesh, nerves, veins and skin. Allah sent an angel who blew life in the donkeys' nostrils, and the donkey started to bray by Allah's leave.""

فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ

When this was clearly shown to him,

All this occurred while Uzayr was watching, and this is when he proclaimed,

قَالَ أَعۡلَمُ أَنَّ اللّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيۡءٍ قَدِيرٌ

He said, ""I know (now) that Allah is able to do all things.""

meaning, ""I know that, and I did witness it with my own eyes. Therefore, I am the most knowledgeable in this matter among the people of my time."

Or, did you see, such as he, Ezra ('Uzayr), who (the kaaf of ka'lladhee, 'such as he who', is extra) passed by a city, namely, the Holy House [sc. Jerusalem], riding on an ass and carrying with him a basket of figs and a cup of juice, [a city] that was fallen down, collapsed, upon its turrets, its roof tops: after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it; he said, 'How (annaa means kayfa, 'how') shall God give life to this now that it is dead?', challenging the power of the exalted One, so God made him die, and remain dead for, a hundred years, then he raised him up, brought him back to life to show him how this could be done; He, God, said, 'How long have you tarried?', been here?; he said, 'I have tarried a day, or part of a day', because he fell asleep before noon, and was made dead and then brought back to life again at sunset, and thus he thought it was a day's sleep; He said, 'Nay; you have tarried a hundred years. Look at your food, the figs, and drink, the cup of juice, it has not spoiled, despite the length of time (the final haa' of yatasannah, 'to spoil', is said to belong to the original root, s-n-h; but it is also said to be silent, in which case the root would be s-n-y; a variant reading omits the final haa'); and look at your ass, how it is, and he ﷺ that it had died, and all that remained were its withered white bones. We did this so that you would know and, so that We would make you a sign, of [the truth of] the Resurrection, for the people. And look at the bones, of the ass, how We shall set them up, how We shall raise them back to life (nunshiruhaa, or nanshiruhaa, derived from the two expressions, nashara and anshara; a variant reading has nunshizuhaa, meaning 'How We shall move it and make it stand'); and then clothe them with flesh', and when he looked at it, he ﷺ that [the bones] had been reconstituted and clothed with flesh, and that the Spirit had been breathed into it, making it bray. So, when it was made clear to him, as a result of witnessing it, he said, 'I know (a variant reading for a'lam, 'I know', has [the imperative] i'lam, 'know!', thus making it a command from God), with the knowledge of direct vision, that God has power over all things'.