“Has he fabricated a lie against Allah, or is there madness in him? Rather, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in torment and far-reaching error. Have they not considered the sky and earth before them and behind them? If We willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them or make fragments of the sky fall upon them. Surely in this is a sign for every servant who turns to Allah.”
As for this man who brings such a message, has he “fabricated a lie against Allah,” daring to speak of Him as he has, “or is there madness in him”? If so, his words would be no cause for surprise, for madness takes many forms. Yet all this arose from their obstinacy and wrongdoing. They knew full well that he was the most truthful and intelligent of Allah’s creation. One indication that they knew this was that they repeatedly strove against him and expended their lives and wealth to turn people away from him. Had he been a liar or a madman, it would not have been fitting for you ⦗676⦘—O people of unsound intellect—to listen to what he said or pay any heed to his call. A sane person should not even turn his gaze toward a madman, much less allow his words to affect him so profoundly.
Were it not for your obstinacy and wrongdoing, you would have hastened to answer him and responded to his call. But “the signs and warnings are of no avail to people who will not believe.” Therefore, Allah Most High says: “Rather, those who do not believe in the Hereafter”—including those who made that statement—“are in torment and far-reaching error.” That is, they are in immense misery and an error far removed from what is right. What misery and error could be greater than their denial of Allah’s power to resurrect the dead, their rejection and mockery of His Messenger who brought this message, and their certainty that their own claims were the truth? Thus, they regarded truth as falsehood, and falsehood and error as truth and guidance.
He then drew their attention to rational evidence showing that the resurrection they deemed so far-fetched should not be regarded as such. If they considered the sky and earth before them and behind them, they would see in both such manifestations of Allah’s power as to dazzle the mind, and such greatness as to astound even the foremost scholars. Their creation, their immensity, and all the creatures within them are greater than restoring people from their graves after death. What, then, could lead them to deny the resurrection while acknowledging something greater than it? It is true that the resurrection is, as yet, a matter of the unseen that they have not witnessed, and this is why they deny it.
Allah says: “If We willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them or make fragments of the sky fall upon them”—that is, as a punishment. The earth and sky are under Our governance; if We commanded them, they would not resist. Beware, then, of persisting in your denial, lest We punish you most severely. “Surely in this”—that is, in the creation of the heavens and earth and all the creatures within them—“is a sign for every servant who turns to Allah.”
The more completely a servant turns to Allah, the greater the benefit he derives from the signs. One who turns to Allah approaches his Lord, directs his desires and aspirations toward Him, and returns to Him in every affair. He thus draws near to his Lord and has no concern except pursuing what pleases Him. Consequently, he looks upon created things with reflection and a desire to learn, not with a heedless gaze that yields no benefit.