Ad-Dukhan: (34-35) "Indeed, these people say"

(Indeed, these people)—meaning the disbelievers of Quraysh, for the discourse is regarding them, and the mention of the story of Pharaoh and his people is by way of digression to indicate that they are like them in their persistence in misguidance and their warning of a fate similar to that which befell them. In the demonstrative pronoun, there is an element of disparagement toward them.

(Say: "It is not but our first death")—that is, the final outcome and the end of the matter is only the first death that removes worldly life.

(And we shall not be resurrected)—that is, we will not be brought back to life after it. The description of it as "the first" is not intended to imply a second, just as in your saying, "Zayd performed the Hajj the first time," and then he died.

Al-Isnawi stated in at-Tamhid: "The 'first' (awwal) in language denotes the beginning of a thing; then, it may have a second, and it may not, as when you say, 'This is the first thing he earned,' for he may earn something after it, or he may not earn anything." A group, including al-Wahidi in his interpretation and az-Zajjaj, mentioned this. Among the branches of this issue is if one says, "If the first child you bear is a male, you are divorced," if she bears it and bears no other, it is [divorced] by consensus. Abu Ali said: "They agreed that it is not a condition for it being 'first' that there be another after it; rather, the only condition is that nothing precedes it." From this, one understands the error of some who say: "The first is the correlate of the last and the second, and it necessitates their existence without doubt." If that example is valid, it applies only to someone who intended multiple Hajj performances but was cut off by death, so it became a 'second' regarding the intention. [These objections] are due to a lack of deep examination.

There is no need to say that it is "first" in relation to the afterlife that follows it. In fact, that is rejected in itself, for Ibn al-Munir said: "The 'first' is only countered by a 'second' that shares its specific essence. Just as it is incorrect or improper to say, 'A man and another woman came to me,' it is not said 'the first death' in relation to the life of the Hereafter."

It has been said: It was stated to them, "You will die a death that is followed by life, just as there was a death that was followed by life," as in the verse: "And you were dead and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you back to life." So they said: (It is not but our first death), meaning: "There is no death that is followed by life except the first death, not the second," and "This quality which you attribute to death—that it is followed by life—applies only to the first death specifically." This is what Jar Allah (az-Zamakhshari) favored. He intended that the negation and affirmation, since they were for the sake of responding to the obstinate denier with the truth, were not based on their own denial, especially since the definite article in "the first" (al-ula) is for reference ('ahd). The saying of Allah, the Exalted: (The first death), is an explanation for the ambiguous, in the manner of the Arabs saying, "It is such and such," so they correspond. The intended reference is the death followed by worldly life; that is why he cited as evidence the verse: "And you were dead..." etc. Thus, the consideration of the description is not a turning away from the apparent meaning without necessity, as Ibn al-Munir claimed. His objection also—that the death preceding worldly life cannot be expressed as "the death" (al-mawtah) because the feminine form of unity (ta') implies renewal, while the preceding death is continuous and not preceded by life—is refuted, as the author of al-Kashshaf stated.

Furthermore, it does not follow from the interpretation of "the first death" as the one after life in the verse: "They will not taste therein death except the first death," that it must be interpreted that way here. For the application of "tasting" to it here serves as a clue that it is the one after worldly life, because what is before life is not tasted. With all this, the fair view is that interpreting "the first death" also as the one after worldly life is more manifest than interpreting it as the one before life (from non-existence). Rather, it is the one that immediately comes to mind upon the absolute mention and is known among them, and the matter of the description with "the first" remains as you heard earlier.

It is also said: It is a promise, and after this death is the death of the grave and the life of resurrection. So His saying regarding them: (It is not but our first death) is a rejection of the second death. In His saying: (And we shall not be resurrected) is a denial of the life of the grave as well, for if it were without the second death, the resurrection would be a necessity.