Surah Al-Hajj — Verse 5

Word Meanings:

• Rīb (رَيْب): Doubt or uncertainty.
• Al-Baʿth (الْبَعْث): The Resurrection; raising the dead for the Day of Judgment.
• Nutfah (نُّطْفَة): A drop of sperm (semen).
• ʿAlaqah (عَلَقَة): A clinging clot of thickened blood.
• Muḍghah (مُّضْغَة): A chewed-like lump of flesh (embryo at a certain stage).
• Mukhallaqah (مُّخَلَّقَة): Fully formed and perfected in creation.
• Ghayr Mukhallaqah (غَيْرُ مُخَلَّقَة): Not fully formed or incomplete.
• Nuqirru (نُقِرُّ): We establish or keep fixed.
• Ajal Musammā (أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى): A specified, appointed term (time of birth).
• Ashuddakum (أَشُدَّكُمْ): Your full strength, maturity, and complete intellect (prime of life).
• Ardhal al-ʿUmur (أَرْذَلِ الْعُمُر): The most feeble, degraded old age (senility).
• Hāmidah (هَامِدَة): Dry, barren, lifeless earth.
• Ihtazzat (اهْتَزَّتْ): It stirred and moved (with the growth of vegetation).
• Rabat (رَبَتْ): It swelled and rose up (due to the moisture and growth).
• Zawj Bahīj (زَوْجٍ بَهِيج): Every beautiful, delightful kind or species (of plant).

Tafsir (Explanation):

O mankind! If you are in any doubt about the possibility of being resurrected after death, then look at your own origins and the world around you — for the One who created you once is fully capable of creating you again. Your very existence is a living proof of this truth.

We created your father, Adam, from dust — a substance with no life in it. Then, through him, We brought forth his descendants from a drop of sperm, a humble fluid. This drop then transforms, by Our power, into a clinging clot of blood, then into a lump of flesh resembling something chewed. At this stage, some embryos are fully formed and complete, destined to grow into a living child, while others are incomplete and do not develop fully — and this happens so that We may make clear to you the perfection of Our power, which turns these stages with precise order and wisdom.

We keep in the wombs whatever We will for an appointed term, until the moment of birth. Then We bring you out as infants, weak and dependent, and you grow little by little until you reach your full strength and maturity — the peak of your physical power and intellectual capability. Among you are those who pass away before reaching this stage, and among you are those who are brought back to the most feeble old age, so that after having known so much, they come to know nothing — a reminder that this worldly life is transient and its stages are but signs pointing to the greater, eternal life to come.

And look at the earth: you see it dry and lifeless, barren and still. But when We send down water upon it, it stirs, swells, and rises, and then brings forth every beautiful kind of vegetation that delights the eyes. This is a second, visible witness to the resurrection — the same Power that revives a dead earth with rain will revive dead bodies from their graves.

So let these signs fill your heart with certainty: the One who began your creation, who nurtured you through stages, who brought you from nothing to existence, and who revives the dead earth — He is absolutely capable of bringing you back to life after death. Do not let doubt rob you of this truth, for your resurrection is easier for Him than your first creation. And on that Day, you will stand before Him, and every soul will be recompensed for what it has earned.

This is a call to reflect, dear reader — not just with the mind, but with the heart. When you see a newborn baby, when you feel the strength of your youth, when you witness the spring coming after a barren winter, remember: these are not random events. They are the handwriting of your Creator, inviting you to believe in the meeting with Him. And that meeting is the beginning of an eternal life — either in everlasting bliss or in loss. So let these signs awaken your faith, and let your life be a preparation for that certain Day.