In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
So glory be to God, when you enter the night and when you enter the morning. To Him be praise in the heavens and on Earth, and when the day begins to decline, and at the time of noon. He brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and He gives life to the soil after it is dead: and in this way you [also] will be brought out [from the dead]. Among His signs is this: He created you from soil, and then—behold, you are people scattered [far and wide]! And among His signs is this: He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may live in restfulness with them, and He has put love and mercy between you. Surely in that are signs for those who reflect. And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors. Surely in that are signs for those who know. And among His signs is the sleep that you take by night and by day, and your quest for livelihood out of His bounty. Surely in that are signs for those who pay heed. And among His signs, He shows you the lightning in a way to give you both fear and hope [at the same time], and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to Earth after it is dead. Surely in that are signs for those who reason. And among His signs is this: Heaven and Earth stand [firm] by His Command: then when He calls you, by a single call, from Earth—behold: you [straightaway] come forth. To Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on Earth: all are obedient to Him. It is He Who produces creation, then reproduces it; and for Him it is most easy. To Him belongs the highest similitude [that we can think of and coin concerning Him] in the heavens and Earth. He is the Mighty, the All‑Wise. (30:17‑27)

These sublime, God‑revealed verses, high and sacred proofs of the Resurrection’s reality, establish one pole of the belief. From those proofs, one significant argument is here set forth. It was a subtle instance of Divine grace that, at the end of Muhakemat (Reasonings), which I wrote about 30 years ago to set down the principles of Qur’anic commentary, came the words: “Second Aim: Two verses of the Qur’an referring to the Resurrection to be expounded and made clear.” And there it stopped.

Praise and thanks as numerous as the proofs of my Merciful Lord and the evidences for the Resurrection that, 30 years later on, I have been enabled to resume that task. About 9 or 10 years ago, God granted me the Tenth and Twenty‑ninth Words, two works containing numerous strong proofs and interpretations of the Divine Decree—Look upon the signs and imprints of God’s Mercy, how He revives the soil after its death. Surely He will revive the dead [in the same way], and He is powerful over all things—the first of the two verses in question. The Tenth and Twenty‑ninth Words silenced those who denied the Resurrection. Now, a decade or so later, He has granted to me the interpretation of the second of those supreme verses, unassailable fortresses of belief in the Resurrection. That interpretation is contained in the essay below.