40:57 Ghafir (The Forgiver)

يخبر تعالى بما تقرر في العقول، أن خلق السماوات والأرض -على عظمهما وسعتهما- أعظم وأكبر، من خلق الناس، فإن الناس بالنسبة إلى خلق السماوات والأرض من أصغر ما يكون فالذي خلق الأجرام العظيمة وأتقنها، قادر على إعادة الناس بعد موتهم من باب أولى وأحرى. وهذا أحد الأدلة العقلية الدالة على البعث، دلالة قاطعة، بمجرد نظر العاقل إليها، يستدل بها استدلالاً لا يقبل الشك والشبهة بوقوع ما أخبرت به الرسل من البعث.وليس كل أحد يجعل فكره لذلك، ويقبل بتدبره، ولهذا قال: { وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ } ولذلك لا يعتبرون بذلك، ولا يجعلونه منهم على بال.

يقول تعالى منبها على أنه يعيد الخلائق يوم القيامة وأن ذلك سهل عليه يسير لديه بأنه خلق السماوات والأرض وخلقهما أكبر من خلق الناس بدأة وإعادة فمن قدر على ذلك فهو قادر على ما دونه بطريق الأولى والأحرى كما قال تعالى "أو لم يروا أن الله الذي خلق السماوات والأرض ولم يعي بخلقهن بقادر على أن يحيي الموتى بلى إنه على كل شيء قدير" وقال ههنا "لخلق السماوات والأرض أكبر من خلق الناس ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون" فلهذا لا يتدبرون هذه الحجة ولا يتأملونها كما كان كثير من العرب يعترفون بأن الله تعالى خلق السماوات والأرض وينكرون المعاد استبعادا وكفرا وعنادا وقد اعترفوا بما هو أولى مما أنكروا.

Life after Death

Allah tells us that He will bring back His creation on the Day of Resurrection. That is very easy for Him, because He created the heavens and the earth, and creating them is greater than creating mankind, the first time and when He creates them again. The One Who is able to do that is able to do anything that is less than that. As Allah says:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِى خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ وَلَمْ يَعْىَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَى أَن يُحْىِ الْمَوْتَى بَلَى إِنَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead Yes, He surely is able to do all things.) (46:33) And Allah says here:

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ أَكْـبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْـثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not.) hence they do not think about or ponder this proof. Similarly, many of the Arabs recognized that Allah had created the heavens and the earth, but they denied and rejected the idea of the resurrection; they acknowledged something which was greater than that which they denied. Then Allah says:

وَمَا يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْـمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ وَلاَ الْمُسِىءُ قَلِيـلاً مَّا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor are those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember!) The blind man who cannot see anything is not the same as the sighted man who can see everything as far as his eyesight reaches -- there is a huge difference between them. By the same token, the righteous believers and the immoral disbelievers are not equal.

قَلِيـلاً مَّا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(Little do you remember!) means, most of the people remember little.

وَإِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لآتِيَةٌ

(Verily, the Hour (Day of Judgement) is surely coming,) means, it will indeed come to pass.

لاَّ رَيْبَ فِيهَا وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not.) means, they do not believe in it, and in fact they doubt its existence altogether.

The following was revealed regarding the deniers of resurrection Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth as an unprecedented first act is greater than the creation of mankind a second time — which is the restoration of them after death; but most people namely the disbelievers of Mecca do not know this and so they are like the blind whereas those who know it are like those who have sight.

In verse 56, it was said: إِن فِي صُدُورِ‌هِمْ إِلَّا كِبْرٌ‌ مَّا هُم بِبَالِغِيهِ (there is nothing in their hearts but pride of greatness that they are not [ able ] to reach). It means that people who quarrel in the matter of the verses of Allah without having any valid argument really look forward to rejecting this faith simply because their hearts are filled with pride and arrogance. They would like to stay ahead in the game and are so dim-witted that they have taken for granted that they have this position of strength as a result of their staunch adherence to their faith, and if they were to surrender this stance by becoming Muslims, they will be left without any power and territory of their own. The Qur'an said: مَّا هُم بِبَالِغِيهِ (they are not [ able ] to reach), that is, these people will never reach the goals of their assumed pride, greatness and state power without embracing Islam. However, had they embraced Islam, honor and greatness would have followed in their footsteps. (Qurtubi)