Yet they say: "There is nothing but the life of this world. We die and we live, and only time annihilates us." Yet they have no knowledge of this: They only speculate.
And they said, “There is nothing except our life of this world – we die and we live – and nothing destroys us except the passage of time”; and they do not have any knowledge of it; they only make guesses.
They say, 'There is nothing but our present life; we die, and we live, and nothing but Time destroys us.' Of that they have no knowledge; they merely conjecture.
And yet they say: “There is nothing beyond our life in this world. We die as we come to life, and nothing but time destroys us.” But of this they have no knowledge whatever: they do nothing but guess.
And they say: there is no naught but our life of the world; die and we live; and naught destroyeth us save Time. And they have no knowledge thereof: they do but guess.
And they say: "There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live and nothing destroys us except Ad-Dahr (the time). And they have no knowledge of it, they only conjecture.
And they say, “There is nothing but this our present life; we die and we live, and nothing destroys us except time.” But they have no knowledge of that; they are only guessing.
They say: “There is no life other than our present worldly life: herein we live and we die, and it is only (the passage of) time that destroys us. Yet the fact is that they know nothing about this and are only conjecturing.
And they say: "There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live and nothing destroys us except Ad-Dahr (time). And they have no knowledge of it, they only presume.
And they say: There is naught but our life of the world; we die and we live, and naught destroyeth us save time; when they have no knowledge whatsoever of (all) that; they do but guess.
They say, ‘There is nothing but the life of this world: we live and we die, and nothing but time destroys us.’ But they do not have any knowledge of that, and they only make conjectures.
They say: 'There is nothing except this life, we die and we live, it is only time that destroys us' Surely, of this they have no knowledge, they are just guessing.
And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming.
They have said, "The only life is this worldly life and here we shall live and die. It is only time which will destroy us" They have no knowledge about this. It is only their guesswork.
And they say: There is nothing but our life in this world; we live and die and nothing destroys us but time, and they have no knowledge of that; they only conjecture.
Waq<u>a</u>loo m<u>a</u> hiya ill<u>a</u> <u>h</u>ay<u>a</u>tun<u>a</u> a<b>l</b>dduny<u>a</u> namootu wana<u>h</u>y<u>a</u> wam<u>a</u> yuhlikun<u>a</u> ill<u>a</u> a<b>l</b>ddahru wam<u>a</u> lahum bi<u>tha</u>lika min AAilmin in hum ill<u>a</u> ya<i><u>th</u></i>unnoon<b>a</b>
They say, "There is nothing but our life in this world: we die, we live, nothing but time destroys us." They have no knowledge of this; they only follow conjecture.
And they say: "What is there but our life in this world? We shall die and we live, and nothing but time can destroy us." But of that they have no knowledge: they merely conjecture:
وَقَالُوا۟ مَا هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلَّا ٱلدَّهْرُ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ
And the disbelievers who denied the resurrection said: “There is no life besides this worldly life of ours, so there is no life after it. Generations die never to return and other generations come to life. And only the alteration of the night and day is what makes us die”. They have no knowledge for their denial of the resurrection. They are only assuming, and assumptions are of no benefit to the truth.
And the disbelievers who denied the resurrection said: “There is no life besides this worldly life of ours, so there is no life after it. Generations die never to return and other generations come to life. And only the alteration of the night and day is what makes us die”. They have no knowledge for their denial of the resurrection. They are only assuming, and assumptions are of no benefit to the truth.
<p>وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ‌ "...and nothing destroys us except time...(45:24) " The word dahr means ` time from the beginning of the world to its end'. It also refers to ` a very long period of time'. The atheists alleged that their life and death have nothing to do with Divine will and command. They happen under natural causes. Death is a process which they say they experience when their human limbs, organs and abilities diminish on account of constant use and, with the passage of time, the matter becomes dissolved and is destroyed; and that this is the be-all and end-all of human existence, there being no life hereafter. Likewise, life has nothing to do with Divine will and command. Life too, like death, happens under movement of material causes.</p><p>Reviling Time Is Inappropriate</p><p>Atheists believed that ` Time' is the cause of life, death, vicissitudes of conditions and adversities, and also the cause of the revolution of the entire universe. Every happening used to be attributed to ` Time' by them as indicated in this verse, whereas the fact is that everything happens with the Divine will and volition. Therefore, authentic Traditions prohibit reviling of time. The power which the unbelievers describe as ` time' is in fact the Divine power. When people curse or revile time for their adversities, they are in fact directing their reproach to Allah. The Messenger of Allah said: "Do not revile time because time actually is Allah." The ignorant who claim that a particular work was done by time is actually the work of Divine power - time is nothing. It does not necessarily follow from this proposition that ad-dahr is one of the names of Allah. Here Allah is referred to as ad-dahr metaphorically or figuratively.</p>
وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ‌ "...and nothing destroys us except time...(45:24) " The word dahr means ` time from the beginning of the world to its end'. It also refers to ` a very long period of time'. The atheists alleged that their life and death have nothing to do with Divine will and command. They happen under natural causes. Death is a process which they say they experience when their human limbs, organs and abilities diminish on account of constant use and, with the passage of time, the matter becomes dissolved and is destroyed; and that this is the be-all and end-all of human existence, there being no life hereafter. Likewise, life has nothing to do with Divine will and command. Life too, like death, happens under movement of material causes.Reviling Time Is InappropriateAtheists believed that ` Time' is the cause of life, death, vicissitudes of conditions and adversities, and also the cause of the revolution of the entire universe. Every happening used to be attributed to ` Time' by them as indicated in this verse, whereas the fact is that everything happens with the Divine will and volition. Therefore, authentic Traditions prohibit reviling of time. The power which the unbelievers describe as ` time' is in fact the Divine power. When people curse or revile time for their adversities, they are in fact directing their reproach to Allah. The Messenger of Allah said: "Do not revile time because time actually is Allah." The ignorant who claim that a particular work was done by time is actually the work of Divine power - time is nothing. It does not necessarily follow from this proposition that ad-dahr is one of the names of Allah. Here Allah is referred to as ad-dahr metaphorically or figuratively.
<h2 class="title">The Conviction of the Disbelievers, Their Argument and the Refutation of it</h2><p>Allah mentions here the creed of Ad-Dahriyyah and the Arab idolators who embraced their creed, denying Resurrection,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَقَالُواْ مَا هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا</div><p>(And they say: "There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live....") They say that there is only this life, some people die while others are born to life, without Resurrection or Judgement. This was the creed of Arab idolators who used to deny Resurrection, in addition to, the creed of the atheist philosophers among them who denied the creation and Resurrection. This was also the statement of atheist philosophers who deny the Creator and think that the world will return to its original form once every thirty--six thousand years, when everything will restart its life--cycle again! They claim that this cycle was repeated for infinity, thus contradicting the sound reason and the divine revelation. They said,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلاَّ الدَّهْرُ</div><p>(and nothing destroys us except Ad-Dahr (time).) Allah the Exalted said in reply,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَمَا لَهُمْ بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَظُنُّونَ</div><p>(And they have no knowledge of it, they only presume.) they speculate and guess! As for the Hadith recorded by the two collectors of the Sahih, and Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i, from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">«يَقُولُ تَعَالَى: يُؤْذِينِي ابْنُ آدَمَ، يَسُبُّ الدَّهْرَ وَأَنَا الدَّهْرُ، بِيَدِيَ الْأَمْرُ، أُقَلِّبُ لَيْلَهُ وَنَهَارَه»</div><p>(Allah the Exalted says, "The Son of `Adam annoys Me when he curses Ad-Dahr (time), while I am Ad-Dahr. In My Hand are all matters; I cause the alternation of his days and nights.") In another narration;</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">«لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى هُوَ الدَّهْر»</div><p>(Do not curse Ad-Dahr (time), for Allah is Ad-Dahr.) Ash-Shafi`i, Abu `Ubaydah and several other Imams of Tafsir explained the meaning of the Prophet's statement,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">«لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللهَ هُوَ الدَّهْر»</div><p>(Do not abuse Ad-Dahr (time), for Allah is Ad-Dahr.) They said, "During the time of Jahiliyyah, when an affliction, a calamity or a disaster struck them, the Arabs used to say, `Woe to Ad-Dahr (time)!' So they used to blame such incidents on Ad-Dahr, cursing Ad-Dahr in the process. Surely, it is Allah the Exalted and Most Honored Who causes these (and all) things to happen. This is why when they cursed Ad-Dahr, it was as if they were cursing Allah Himself, since truthfully, He causes all incidents to happen. Therefore, abusing Ad-Dahr was prohibited due to this consideration, for it was Allah Whom they meant by abusing Ad-Dahr, which -- as we said-- they accused of causing (distressful) incidents." This is the best explanation for this subject, and it is the desired meaning. Allah knows best. We should mention that Ibn Hazm and those of the Zahiriyyah like him made an error when they used this Hadith to include Ad-Dahr among Allah's most beautiful Names. Allah's statement,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ</div><p>(And when Our Clear Ayat are recited to them,) means, when the truth is made plain to them and used as evidence against them, asserting that Allah is able to resurrect the bodies after they have perished and disintegrated,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">مَّا كَانَ حُجَّتَهُمْ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ ائْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَآ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ</div><p>(their argument is no other than that they say: "Bring back our fathers, if you are truthful!") `bring them back to life, if what you say is true.' Allah the Exalted said,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">قُلِ اللَّهُ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ</div><p>(Say (to them): "Allah gives you life and then causes you to die...") `for you are witnesses that He brings you (or new life) to existence after non--existence,'</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَتًا فَأَحْيَـكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ</div><p>(How can you disbelieve in Allah Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life.) (2:28) Therefore, He Who is able to initiate creation, is able to restart it, as well and more obviously,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ</div><p>(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) (30:27) Allah said next,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">ثُمَّ يَجْمَعُكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ</div><p>(then He will assemble you on the Day of Resurrection about which there is no doubt.) `when He resurrects you, it will be on and for the Day of Resurrection, not in this life. Therefore, your statement is groundless,'</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">ائْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَآ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ</div><p>Bring back our (dead) fathers, if you are truthful! Allah said,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُكُمْ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِ</div><p>The Day when He will gather you (all) on the Day of Gathering. )64:9(,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">لأَيِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ - لِيَوْمِ الْفَصْلِ </div><p>(For what Day are these signs postponed For the Day of sorting out.) (77:12-13), and,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَمَا نُؤَخِّرُهُ إِلاَّ لاًّجَلٍ مَّعْدُودٍ </div><p>(And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed.) (11:104) Allah said here,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">ثُمَّ يَجْمَعُكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ</div><p>(then He will assemble you on the Day of Resurrection about which there is no doubt.) there is no doubt that it will come,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ</div><p>(But most of mankind know not.) and this is why they deny Resurrection and discount the fact that the bodies will be brought back to life. Allah the Exalted said,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيداً - وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيباً </div><p>(Verily, they see it afar off. But We see it (quite) near.) (70:6), they discount the possibility that Resurrection will ever come, while the believers believe that its occurrence is easy and imminent.</p>
The Conviction of the Disbelievers, Their Argument and the Refutation of itAllah mentions here the creed of Ad-Dahriyyah and the Arab idolators who embraced their creed, denying Resurrection,وَقَالُواْ مَا هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا(And they say: "There is nothing but our life of this world, we die and we live....") They say that there is only this life, some people die while others are born to life, without Resurrection or Judgement. This was the creed of Arab idolators who used to deny Resurrection, in addition to, the creed of the atheist philosophers among them who denied the creation and Resurrection. This was also the statement of atheist philosophers who deny the Creator and think that the world will return to its original form once every thirty--six thousand years, when everything will restart its life--cycle again! They claim that this cycle was repeated for infinity, thus contradicting the sound reason and the divine revelation. They said,وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلاَّ الدَّهْرُ(and nothing destroys us except Ad-Dahr (time).) Allah the Exalted said in reply,وَمَا لَهُمْ بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَظُنُّونَ(And they have no knowledge of it, they only presume.) they speculate and guess! As for the Hadith recorded by the two collectors of the Sahih, and Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i, from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,«يَقُولُ تَعَالَى: يُؤْذِينِي ابْنُ آدَمَ، يَسُبُّ الدَّهْرَ وَأَنَا الدَّهْرُ، بِيَدِيَ الْأَمْرُ، أُقَلِّبُ لَيْلَهُ وَنَهَارَه»(Allah the Exalted says, "The Son of `Adam annoys Me when he curses Ad-Dahr (time), while I am Ad-Dahr. In My Hand are all matters; I cause the alternation of his days and nights.") In another narration;«لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى هُوَ الدَّهْر»(Do not curse Ad-Dahr (time), for Allah is Ad-Dahr.) Ash-Shafi`i, Abu `Ubaydah and several other Imams of Tafsir explained the meaning of the Prophet's statement,«لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللهَ هُوَ الدَّهْر»(Do not abuse Ad-Dahr (time), for Allah is Ad-Dahr.) They said, "During the time of Jahiliyyah, when an affliction, a calamity or a disaster struck them, the Arabs used to say, `Woe to Ad-Dahr (time)!' So they used to blame such incidents on Ad-Dahr, cursing Ad-Dahr in the process. Surely, it is Allah the Exalted and Most Honored Who causes these (and all) things to happen. This is why when they cursed Ad-Dahr, it was as if they were cursing Allah Himself, since truthfully, He causes all incidents to happen. Therefore, abusing Ad-Dahr was prohibited due to this consideration, for it was Allah Whom they meant by abusing Ad-Dahr, which -- as we said-- they accused of causing (distressful) incidents." This is the best explanation for this subject, and it is the desired meaning. Allah knows best. We should mention that Ibn Hazm and those of the Zahiriyyah like him made an error when they used this Hadith to include Ad-Dahr among Allah's most beautiful Names. Allah's statement,وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ(And when Our Clear Ayat are recited to them,) means, when the truth is made plain to them and used as evidence against them, asserting that Allah is able to resurrect the bodies after they have perished and disintegrated,مَّا كَانَ حُجَّتَهُمْ إِلاَّ أَن قَالُواْ ائْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَآ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَ(their argument is no other than that they say: "Bring back our fathers, if you are truthful!") `bring them back to life, if what you say is true.' Allah the Exalted said,قُلِ اللَّهُ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ(Say (to them): "Allah gives you life and then causes you to die...") `for you are witnesses that He brings you (or new life) to existence after non--existence,'كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَتًا فَأَحْيَـكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ(How can you disbelieve in Allah Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life.) (2:28) Therefore, He Who is able to initiate creation, is able to restart it, as well and more obviously,وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ(And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) (30:27) Allah said next,ثُمَّ يَجْمَعُكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ(then He will assemble you on the Day of Resurrection about which there is no doubt.) `when He resurrects you, it will be on and for the Day of Resurrection, not in this life. Therefore, your statement is groundless,'ائْتُواْ بِـَابَآئِنَآ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـدِقِينَBring back our (dead) fathers, if you are truthful! Allah said,يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُكُمْ لِيَوْمِ الْجَمْعِThe Day when He will gather you (all) on the Day of Gathering. )64:9(,لأَيِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ - لِيَوْمِ الْفَصْلِ (For what Day are these signs postponed For the Day of sorting out.) (77:12-13), and,وَمَا نُؤَخِّرُهُ إِلاَّ لاًّجَلٍ مَّعْدُودٍ (And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed.) (11:104) Allah said here,ثُمَّ يَجْمَعُكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ(then He will assemble you on the Day of Resurrection about which there is no doubt.) there is no doubt that it will come,وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ(But most of mankind know not.) and this is why they deny Resurrection and discount the fact that the bodies will be brought back to life. Allah the Exalted said,إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيداً - وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيباً (Verily, they see it afar off. But We see it (quite) near.) (70:6), they discount the possibility that Resurrection will ever come, while the believers believe that its occurrence is easy and imminent.