Islam Guidance

Verse260

(260) وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَى وَلَكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ

قَلْبِي قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَى كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ

يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

260. And when Abraham said: ' My Lord! Show me how you give life to the dead ', He said: ' Do you not believe?' ' Yes', said Abraham, ' but to make my heart at ease.' He said: ' Take four of the birds. Then make them to incline unto you and (cutting them into pieces) place a part of them on each mountain, and thereafter, call them. They will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is the Mighty, the Wise."
Commentary:
This unique matchless claim is narrated but from the only man of
significance in history who after the Messenger of Allah said: " If the curtains be removed, there will be added nothing to my certitude." (1)
But, other people wholly like to see what they were told, or what they believe, in their objective state. For example, everybody likes to see how sugar is produced and obtained from sugar-beet or sugar-cane although they know that sugar is originally from it.

Concerning the above verse, it is cited in some commentary books that: once Abraham (a.s.) was walking on the bank of a sea when he saw a corpse of a man over the sands there. The corpse was half in the water and half on the land so that both the animals in the sea and the birds and animals on the land could feed from it. Abraham thought himself if this condition happened for a man whose little bits of body were distributed among other living creatures, how could these bits be gathered together and raise on the Resurrection Day? So, he (a.s.) invoked Allah:
" And when Abraham said: ..."
"... My Lord! Show me how You give life to dead. ..."
Explanations:
1. We should attempt to elevate the standard of our faith and belief in ourselves as much as we reach the limit of certainty.
"... He said: ' Do you not believe?' ' Yes ', said Abraham, ' but to make my heart at ease.' ..."
2. Intuition and vision appears only for those who have paved some length of the path of knowledge, faith, and reasoning.
3. The call of the saints and Apostles of Allah can affect even on the particles in the world:
"...and thereafter, call them. They will come to you in haste. ... "
4. Resurrection is a bodily resurrection, because, on the Day of Judgement, the return of the soul will be unto the very particles of the body.
5. Since the goal is reaching the certitude, the accomplishment is done by Abraham (a.s.) himself. (He killed four different birds, mixed their meat with together and divided it upon several mountains.)
"... He said: ' Take four of the birds. Then make them to incline unto you and (cutting them into pieces) place a part of them on each mountain, ..."
6. For the purpose of a deep instruction, applying art and demonstration is necessary.
However, we must always beware of the fact:
"... And know that Allah is the Mighty, the Wise. "

(1) Tafsir Ruhul-Bayan, Vol. l, P. 416

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