Mujāhid said: “It regrets what it has missed and says, ‘If only I had done such-and-such, and if only I had not done such-and-such.’”

Al-Farrāʾ said: “There is no righteous or wicked soul but that it reproaches itself. If it has done good, it says, ‘Why did I not do more?’ And if it has done evil, it says, ‘If only I had not done it!’” (1)

Al-Ḥasan said: “It is the believing soul.” He said: “By Allah, you will find the believer doing nothing but reproaching himself: ‘What did I intend by my words? What did I intend by what I ate?’ But the wicked person presses onward, neither calling himself to account nor reproaching himself.”

Muqātil said: “It is the disbelieving soul, which will reproach itself in the Hereafter for having neglected Allah’s command in this world.”

“Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? (3) Yes indeed! We are fully able to perfect even his fingertips. (4)”

“Does man think that We will not assemble his bones?” This was revealed concerning ʿAdiyy ibn Rabīʿah, an ally of Banū Zahrah and a relative by marriage of al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq al-Thaqafī. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say: “O Allah, protect me from my two evil neighbours,” meaning ʿAdiyy and al-Akhnas.

This was because ʿAdiyy ibn Rabīʿah came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: “O Muhammad, tell me about the Resurrection: when will it occur, and what will it be like?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, informed him, whereupon he said: “Even if I were to witness that Day, I would not believe you or have faith in you.” (2) “Will Allah really assemble the bones?” So Allah, exalted is He, revealed: “Does man think” (3)—that is, the disbeliever—“that We will not assemble his bones” after they have been scattered and decayed, and then bring him back to life.

It was said that the bones are mentioned while the person himself is intended, because the bones are the framework of the soul, and the creature cannot be properly formed unless they are properly arranged. It was also said that this wording follows the statement of the denier, “Will Allah assemble the bones?” like His saying: “Who will give life to bones when they have rotted away?” (Ya-Sin 36:78).

“Yes indeed! We are able”: that is, We are able. A future expression has been used with a present meaning. Al-Farrāʾ said that “able” is in the accusative as a construction detached from “We will assemble,” just as one might say: “Do you think that We cannot overcome you? Yes indeed, able to overcome one mightier than you”—meaning, rather, able to do more than this. (4)

The purport of the verse is: Yes, We are able to assemble his bones and to do what is even greater than that—namely, “that We are able (5) to perfect his fingertips,” his digits—making the fingers of his hands and feet a single thing, like a camel’s padded foot and a donkey’s hoof, so that he would not