Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:59
Is it you who creates it, or are We the Creator?
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.
Bishr related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: فَشَارِبُونَ شُرْبَ الْهِيمِ (and you will drink as thirsty camels drink), he said: it is a disease afflicting camels whereby they cannot quench their thirst.
* Mention of those who said that it is the sand:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, concerning فَشَارِبُونَ شُرْبَ الْهِيمِ (and you will drink as thirsty camels drink), he said: it is the loose sand.
And His word: هَذَا نُزُلُهُمْ يَوْمَ الدِّينِ (This is their welcome on the Day of Judgement). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: this which I have described to you, O people—that these deniers and those who go astray will eat of it from the zaqqūm tree, and that on top of that they will drink of the boiling water—that is their welcome with which their Lord receives them on the Day of Judgement, that is to say: the Day on which Allah will judge His servants.
And His word: نَحْنُ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ فَلَوْلا تُصَدِّقُونَ (We created you; why then do you not believe?). The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to the unbelievers of the Quraysh and the deniers of the resurrection: We created you, O people, while you were nothing, and We brought you into existence as human beings. Why then do you not believe the One who did that with you, when He says to you: that He will resurrect you after your death and after your decay in your graves, in the same form as you were before your death?
The explanation of the word of the Exalted: أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تُمْنُونَ (٥٨) أَأَنْتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ (٥٩) نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ (٦٠) عَلَى أَنْ نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ وَنُنْشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ (٦١) (Have you then considered what you emit as seed? (58) Do you create it, or are We the Creator? (59) We have ordained death among you, and none can outstrip Us (60) in replacing your likes with others and in creating you in a form that you do not know (61)).
The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to these deniers of the resurrection: Have you then considered, O you who deny Allah's power to bring you back to life after your death—the seed which you emit into the wombs of your wives—do you create that, or are We the Creator?
