Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:20
Say, [O Muhammad], "Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah, over all things, is competent."
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.
His word: قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الأرْضِ ("Say: Travel through the land"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, to those who deny the resurrection after death and who reject the reward and the punishment: سِيرُوا فِي الأرْضِ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ ("Travel through the land and see how He began the creation"), namely how Allah first brought forth things and how He created them and brought them into being. And just as He first brought them into being and brought them into existence — which was not impossible for Him as the Originator — so too it is not impossible for Him to bring them forth anew as the Restorer. ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنْشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الآخِرَةَ ("Then Allah brings about the latter bringing-forth"). He says: Then Allah causes that latter bringing-forth to begin, after the perishing.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: قُلْ سِيرُوا فِي الأرْضِ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ("Say: Travel through the land and see how He began the creation"), namely the creation of the heavens and the earth; ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنْشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الآخِرَةَ ("Then Allah brings about the latter bringing-forth"), that is to say: the resurrection after 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 Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنْشِئُ النَّشْأَةَ الآخِرَةَ ("Then Allah brings about the latter bringing-forth"). He said: That is the life after death, and that is the raising up (al-nushūr).
And his word: إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ("Verily, Allah is capable of all things"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Verily, Allah is powerful to bring forth His entire creation after its perishing, in the same form as before its perishing, and to carry out everything else that He wills; nothing that He wills is impossible for Him.
