Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:62
And you have already known the first creation, so will you not remember?
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 judgement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الأُولَى فَلَوْلا تَذَكَّرُونَ ("And indeed, you have known the first creation; so will you not then be admonished?") (62)
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: And indeed you know, O people, the first bringing-forth which We accomplished for you, while before that you were nothing.
And the like of what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have said.
* Mention of those 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 — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: النَّشْأَةَ الأولَى ("the first creation"), he said: when you were nothing.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الأولَى ("And indeed, you have known the first creation"): he means the creation of Adam; you would not question anyone of the creatures but that he would inform you that Allah created Adam from clay.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الأولَى ("And indeed, you have known the first creation"), he said: that is the creation of Adam.
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Ḥarasī related to me, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī recite this verse: وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الأولَى ("And indeed, you have known the first creation"), he said: that is the creation of Adam.
And His word: فَلَوْلا تَذَكَّرُونَ ("so will you not then be admonished?") — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: So why will you not be admonished, O people, that you might know that He who brought you into being in the first creation, while you were nothing, does not deem it impossible to bring you back alive again after your death and your decay.
