Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)
Verse 5
Table of Contents
5. “O, people! if you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then (consider that) verily We created you from dust, then from sperm, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, that We may manifest (Our power) to you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, then We bring you out as babies, then that you may attain your maturity, and some of you are called to die, and some of you are kept back to the worst part of life so that they know nothing after having known (much), and you see the earth dried, dead, but when We send down the water on it, it stirs and swells and brings forth every kind of attractive herbage (in pairs).”
Resurrection in the World of Fetus and Plants
In view of the fact that the discussion in the previous verses was about the doubt of the opponent concerning the origin and the end (Resurrection), in this holy verse, the ‘Resurrection of the body’ has been reasoned and proved by two firm and logical evidence.
One of them is the transformations of embryo during its fetal course, and the other is proved through the way of earth transformations when the plants grow.
At first, the Holly Qur’an addresses all human beings and says:
“O, people! if you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then (consider that) verily we created you from dust, then from sperm, then from a clot, then from a lump of Flesh, partly formed and partly unformed…”
All these are for the sake that He makes it manifest to you that Allah is powerful over everything.
The verse continues saying:
“…that We may manifest (Our proper) to you.…”
Allah keeps the embryos that He wishes in the wombs of mothers until a fixed time in order that they pass their evolutionary periods, but He may cause some of them, which he desires, to fall from their circle in the midway. After that, a new revolutionary course begins and He brings it out in the form of a babe from mother’s womb.
The verse says:
“…And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, then We bring you out as babies…”
Thus, the limited period and dependant course of your life in the mother’s womb naturally ends and you arrive in a vast environment, full of light, serenity, and with much more potentialities.
Yet, the evolutionary wheels of your development do not pause. They ceaselessly continue going forth in this way.
The verse says:
“…then that you may attain your maturity…”
Here, the ignorance changes into wisdom, the weakness into strength, and the dependence into independence.
But this wheel of movement does not stop, though some of you, in this course, may die while some others may live a very long life that they reach the worst stage of life, so that they know nothing of what they knew.
The verse continues saying:
“…and some of you are called to die, and some of you are kept back to the worst part of life so that they know nothing after having known (much)…”
The weakness, disability, and melancholy are the reason for the appearance of the stage of a new transformation. This stage is like the stage that a fruit has when it becomes lose from the branch of the tree and which indicates that it has become ripe enough and must be separated from its position.
Then the Qur’an refers to the second statement, i.e., the life of the plants, where it says:
“…and you see the earth dried, dead, but when We send down the water on it, it stirs and swells and brings forth every kind of attractive herbage (in pairs).”
The Arabic word /hamidah/ is originally called to the fire which has been extinguished and also to the land the plants of which have dried and remained motionless.1
Some other Islamic commentators have said that /hamidah/ is applied for a state between life and death.2
The Arabic term /’ihtazzat/ is derived from /hazz/ in the sense of ‘moved, aroused’.
The Arabic word /rabat/, here, is derived from /rubuww/ (rhymed with /‘uluww/) in the sense of growth and increase, and the Arabic word /riba/ is also derived from the same root.
The Qur’anic word /bahij/ means: ‘beautiful, attractive, and pleasurable.’