Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:21

(Dead, not alive) - "Dead" is a second predicate for the relative pronoun [the object of the verb], or the predicate of an omitted subject—that is, "they are dead." This was explicitly stated because proving that they are created beings does not necessitate the negation of life from them, as some created beings are alive. If the intended meaning of the subject being informed about is "idols," then "death" signifies the absence of life, without implying anything beyond the fact that it is not in their nature to be alive.

His saying, "not alive," is also a predicate following a predicate, or an adjective for "dead." Some consider its inclusion to be for emphasis, while others favor [the interpretation of] innovation (establishing a new meaning). The latter is because some things that lack life might acquire it, such as a drop of semen; therefore, this phrase was brought as a precaution against such cases. It is as if it were said: "They are dead at present and are not capable of life at all."

It is also permissible that the subject being informed about includes all of their deities, both those endowed with intellect and others. In this case, "dead" is used in a broadly metaphorical sense to include those who had life and then died (like Ezra), those who will die (like Jesus and the angels, peace be upon them), and those who are not of a nature to possess life at all (like idols). If "not alive" is interpreted as "not capable of life," it becomes a description of the whole by the attribute of a part, serving as an innovation in the statement. If emphasis is intended, the matter is clear.

It has also been suggested that among those deities are the angels, peace be upon them, as some people among the addressees used to worship them. Their being "dead" means that death is inevitable for them, and "not alive" means their life is not complete, for complete life is self-existent life upon which death cannot encroach.

In the variant reading "those who they call upon" (using the letter Ya), it is possible that "the dead" refers to the supplicants themselves. They are described as such, likening them to the dead because they are astray and not guided. The remoteness of this interpretation is evident.

"(They) do not perceive when they will be resurrected."

The first pronoun refers to the gods, and the second to their worshippers. "Perception" is knowledge or its foundations. Al-Raghib said: "It is said 'I perceived' (sha‘artu), meaning I struck the hair, from which is derived 'I perceived this,' meaning I knew it with precision, like striking a hair." It is said the poet (sha‘ir) was named for his insight and precision of knowledge. He then mentioned that the poet is the senses, and the meaning of "you do not perceive" is "you do not discern through the senses." If one were to say in many contexts where "you do not perceive, you do not understand" is used that it is not permissible [to use only "perceive"], it is because many things that are not perceivable are still understandable.

"When" (ayyan) is an expression for the time of something, close in meaning to "when" (mata). Its origin, according to some, is ay (which) or in (if), meaning "at what time," then the alif was dropped, the waw turned into a ya, and it was assimilated—and it is as you see. Abu Abd al-Rahman read it iyyan with a kasra on the hamza, which is the dialect of his people, Sulaym.

The manifest meaning is that it acts as the object for "will be resurrected," and the sentence is in the accusative position after "perceive" because it is suspended from acting. That is, those gods do not know when their worshippers will be resurrected. This is a form of mockery towards them, based on the desire to highlight the idols, for the perception of inanimate objects regarding external matters is self-evidently impossible to everyone, let alone matters known only to the All-Knowing, the All-Aware.

In al-Bahr, it states that it contains a mockery of the polytheists, as their gods do not know the time of their resurrection to recompense them for worshipping them. Perhaps this applies to all possibilities regarding the deities. It contains a warning that resurrection is a necessity of moral responsibility, for it is for recompense, and recompense is for responsibility; thus, it is a necessary condition for it, and knowledge of its time must be a requirement for divinity.

It has been said: The pronouns for "perceive" and "resurrected" refer to the gods, and the negation of their perception of the time of their own resurrection necessitates the negation of their perception of the time of their worshippers' resurrection—which is what the apparent meaning dictates. Whoever permits that the "dead" refers to the misguided disbelievers makes the two plural pronouns here refer to them, and the speech is framed as a threat: "Those polytheists do not perceive when they will be resurrected for punishment." It is also said: The speech concludes at His saying, "They do not perceive," and "When they will be resurrected" is a circumstantial adverb for His saying...