Tafseer of The letter Qaaf · Qaaf · 50:15
Did We fail in the first creation? But they are in confusion over a new creation.
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 explanation of the words of the Exalted: أَفَعَيِينَا بِالْخَلْقِ الأَوَّلِ بَلْ هُمْ فِي لَبْسٍ مِنْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ (50:15) (Were We then wearied by the first creation? No, but they are in uncertainty about a new creation.)
This is a rebuke from Allah to the polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Quraysh, who said: أَئِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا ذَلِكَ رَجْعٌ بَعِيدٌ ("When we have died and become dust — that is a far-off return"). The Exalted — exalted is His praise — says to them: were We then wearied by bringing into being the first creation, which We created when it was as yet nothing, so that We should be wearied by raising them up again as a new creation after their decay into dust and after their perishing? He says: that does not weary Us; rather, We are capable of it.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word ( أَفَعَيِينَا بِالْخَلْقِ الأوَّلِ ), he said: the first creation did not weary Us.
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 — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid.
Concerning His word ( أَفَعَيِينَا بِالْخَلْقِ الأوَّلِ ), he said: was it then too heavy for Us when We brought you into being as a new creation, that you should doubt the resurrection?
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Abū Maysara ( أَفَعَيِينَا بِالْخَلْقِ الأوَّلِ ), he said: We created you.
And His word ( بَلْ هُمْ فِي لَبْسٍ مِنْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ) "No, but they are in uncertainty about a new creation" — the Exalted — praised be His mention — says: these polytheists who deny the resurrection do not doubt that We were not wearied by the first creation, but they are in doubt about Our power to create them as a new creation after their perishing and their decay in their graves.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word ( بَلْ هُمْ فِي لَبْسٍ مِنْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ), he said: in doubt about the resurrection.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Abū Maysara ( بَلْ هُمْ فِي لَبْسٍ ), he said: the disbelievers (al-kuffār) ( مِنْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ), he said: that they would be created after death.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word ( بَلْ هُمْ فِي لَبْسٍ ): that is to say doubt, and the new creation is the resurrection after death. Thus the people became, regarding it, two kinds: a denier and a believer.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word ( فِي لَبْسٍ مِنْ خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ ), he said: the resurrection after death.
