“And when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’ He said, ‘Do you not believe?’ He said, ‘Certainly I do, but so that my heart may be at peace.’ He said, ‘Take four birds and draw them close to yourself; then place a portion of them upon every mountain, then call them, and they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.’” (260)

Regarding His saying, exalted is He: “And when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead.’” Al-Hasan, Qatadah, ‘Ata’ al-Khurasani, and Ibn Jurayj said: The reason Abraham, peace be upon him, asked this was that he passed by a dead animal. Ibn Jurayj said: It was the carcass of a donkey on the seashore. ‘Ata’ said: At Lake Tiberias. They said: He saw that the creatures of sea and land had divided it among themselves. Whenever the sea came in, the fish and other sea creatures would come and eat from it, and whatever fell from them would end up in the sea. When the sea ebbed and receded, beasts of prey would come and eat from it, and whatever fell from them would become dust. Then, when the beasts had gone, birds would come and eat from it, and whatever fell from them would be scattered by the wind through the air.

When Abraham, peace be upon him, saw this, he marvelled at it and said, “My Lord, I know that You will surely gather it from the bellies of beasts of prey, the crops of birds, and the insides of sea creatures. So show me how You give it life, that I may witness it and increase in certainty.” Allah Most High then reproved him (1): “He said, ‘Do you not believe?’ He said, ‘Certainly I do’”—that is, “My Lord, I know and believe—‘but so that my heart may be at peace,’” meaning, that his heart might be reassured through direct sight and observation. He wished for certainty based on knowledge to become certainty based on direct sight, for a report is not like direct observation.

It was also said that the reason Abraham asked this was that, when he debated with Nimrod and said, “My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death” (al-Baqarah 2:258), Nimrod (2) said, “I give life and cause death,” and then killed one of two men and set the other free. Abraham said, “Allah intends a lifeless body and then gives it life.” Nimrod said to him, “Have you witnessed this?” He could not answer, “Yes,” so he moved on to another argument. Thereafter, he asked his Lord to show him the giving of life to the dead. “He said, ‘Do you not believe?’ He said, ‘Certainly I do, but so that my heart may be at peace’”—that is, through the strength of my proof, so that if I am asked, “Have you witnessed it?” I may say, “Yes, I have witnessed it.”

Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: When Allah Most High made Abraham His intimate friend, the Angel of Death asked his Lord for permission to give Abraham this glad tiding. He granted him permission, so he came to Abraham while he was not at home. He entered his house. Abraham, peace be upon him, was the most protective of his privacy: whenever he went out, he locked his door. When he returned and found a man in his house, he rushed at him to seize him and said, “Who permitted you to enter my house?” He replied, “The Lord of this house permitted me.” Abraham said, “You have spoken the truth,” and he recognized that he was an angel. He then asked, “Who are you?” He said, “I am the Angel of Death. I have come to bring you the glad news that Allah Most High has made you His intimate friend.” Abraham praised Allah, the Most High, and said, “What is the sign of that?” He replied, “That Allah will answer your supplication and give life to the dead at your request.” At that point Abraham said: “My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead. He said, ‘Do you not believe?’ He said, ‘Certainly I do, but so that my heart may be at peace’”—that You have made me Your intimate friend and will answer me when I call upon You (3).