Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:51
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 -
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ (Or some created thing that is great in your breasts). Some said: what is meant by it is death, and the meaning is: or become death, for if you were to be death, I would make you die and then bring you to life on the Day of Resurrection.
* Mention of who said that:
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "Death." He said: "If you were death, I would have made you alive."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he means death, he says: "If you were death, I would have made you alive."
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, saying: Abū Mālik al-Janbī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "Death."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Sulaymān Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "Death."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said concerning His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: "Become death if you can, for death itself shall die." He said: "And there is nothing more tremendous in the soul of the son of Adam than death."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: "It reached me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: it is death."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, that he used to say: "On the Day of Resurrection death is brought as though it were a white-fleeced ram, until it is placed between the Garden (janna) and Hell (jahannam). Then a caller calls out, making both the people of the Garden and the people of Hell hear, and says: This is death — we brought it and we shall destroy it. Be assured, O people of the Garden and people of Hell, that death has perished."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he means death, he says: "If you were death, I would have made you die."
And ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ used to say: "Truly, Allah brings death on the Day of Resurrection, while the people of the Garden and the people of Hell have already taken their places — as though it were a white-fleeced ram. Then it stands between the Garden and Hell and calls out to the people of the Garden and the people of Hell: This is death, and we shall slaughter it. Be assured of everlasting permanence."
Others said: what is meant by it is the heaven, the earth, and the mountains.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "The heaven, the earth, and the mountains."
Others said: no, what is meant by it is: become whatever you wish.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning كُونُوا حِجَارَةً أَوْ حَدِيدًا أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "Become whatever you wish, and Allah will bring you back as you were."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, similarly.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning قُلْ كُونُوا حِجَارَةً أَوْ حَدِيدًا أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ: he said: "Of Allah's creation — for Allah will make you die and on the Day of Resurrection raise you up as a new creation."
And the view that in this regard most closely accords with what is correct is to say: Allah the Exalted said أَوْ خَلْقًا مِمَّا يَكْبُرُ فِي صُدُورِكُمْ; it is possible that He meant by it death, for it is tremendous in the breasts of the sons of Adam; it is also possible that He meant by it the heaven and the earth; and it is also possible that He meant by it something else. And there is no clarification in it clearer than what the Exalted in His glory has Himself clarified, namely that it is everything that is great in the breasts of the sons of Adam from among His creation, for He singled out nothing therein above anything else.
And His word فَسَيَقُولُونَ مَنْ يُعِيدُنَا (They will then say: Who will bring us back?) — He says: then those who do not believe in the Hereafter will say to you, O Muḥammad: مَنْ يُعِيدُنَا — who will bring us back as a new creation, if we are stones or iron or a created thing that is great in our breasts? So say to them: الَّذِي فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ (The One Who originated you the first time) — that is to say: the One Who brings you back as humans just as you were before you became stones or iron, namely the One Who originated you the first time as humans out of nothing.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning قُلِ الَّذِي فَطَرَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ: that is to say: Who created you. فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ (They will shake their heads at you) — that is to say: when you tell them that, they will shake their heads at you — upward and downward — and thus is al-naghḍ in Arabic: it is only a movement of going up and then down, or down and then up. For this reason the male ostrich is called naghḍ (shaker), for when it runs swiftly it rises and descends and moves its head, as the poet said:
A deaf shaker, ceaselessly panting.
And one says: "His tooth shook" (naghaḍat) when it moved and protruded from its root. Hence the saying of the poet in rajaz:
And her teeth shake from old age.
And the saying of another:
When she saw me, she shook her head at me.
A view similar to what we said has been shared by the exegetes.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ: "That is to say: they move their heads in denial and mockery."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ: he said: "They move their heads."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ: he said: "They will move them at you out of mockery."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ: he said: "They move their heads in mockery and say: When is that?"
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word فَسَيُنْغِضُونَ إِلَيْكَ رُءُوسَهُمْ: he says: "They mock."
And His word وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هُوَ (And they say: When is that?) — the Exalted in His glory says: they say: "When is the resurrection?" And at what moment and time will He bring us back as a new creation, just as we were the first time? Allah the Almighty says to His prophet: Say to them, O Muḥammad, when they say to you: "When is that?" — "When is this resurrection that you promise us?" — "Perhaps it is near?" The real meaning is: it is near, for the "perhaps" (ʿasā) of Allah is inevitable. For this reason
the Prophet ﷺ said: "I was sent, and the Hour are like these two" — and he pointed to his index finger and his middle finger — for Allah the Exalted had made known to him that it is near and inescapable.
