Likewise, consider His words: “He puts forth for Us a parable and forgets his own creation, saying, ‘Who will revive the bones when they are crumbled?’” (Yā-Sīn 36:78–79). In the question, “Who will revive the bones when they are crumbled?” (36:78), we have a syllogism in which one premise is left unstated because it is obvious, while the second is a universal negative that is immediately paired with its evidence—the parable itself: “He puts forth for Us a parable and forgets his own creation, saying, ‘Who will revive the bones when they are crumbled?’” (36:78). The form is a rhetorical question expressing denial, i.e., “No one can revive bones once they have become dust.” For, in his estimation, their having turned to dust rules out their revival: they have reached a state of dryness and cold that is incompatible with life, which rests on heat and moisture; their parts have scattered, mixed with other substances, and so forth. The implicit argument therefore runs: “These bones are decayed; no one revives decayed bones; therefore no one will revive them.” Yet this negative premise is false, and its conclusion—that revival is impossible—is baseless.

Allah then proves the possibility of resurrection from several directions by pointing to something even more remote (to human thinking) that He has already accomplished. He says: “He who created them in the first place will bring them back to life” (Yā-Sīn 36:79)—and He did create them from dust the first time. He then adds: “and He has full knowledge of every creation” (36:79), indicating His knowledge of every scattered particle and every substance that has undergone transformation.

Next He says: “Who produces for you fire from the green tree” (Yā-Sīn 36:80), showing that He draws hot, dry fire out of something cold and moist. This is an even stronger contrast, for combining heat with moisture is easier to imagine than combining heat with dryness; moisture admits of change in a way that dryness does not.