Tafsir of An-Najm 53:44

An-Najm (The Star): Verse 44

وَأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَمَاتَ (And that it is He who causes death,)

The discussion here is similar to that concerning laughter and weeping. However, in the previous verse (regarding laughter/weeping), God, the Exalted, specified the particular type which is more specific than the general category, as it is more apparent and further removed from a simple cause. Then, He followed it with what is more general and less removed from causality, which are causing death (إماتة) and giving life (إحياء).

These two are opposing attributes: death and life, just as laughter and weeping are opposites.

Death, in this context, is not mere non-existence, otherwise, that which is impossible would be considered dead. In any case, causing death and giving life are existential matters and are specific properties of animate beings (animals).

The natural philosophers attribute life to the balance (i'tidal) of the temperament (mizāj). The temperament is composed of four opposing elements: fire, air, water, and earth. These elements naturally tend toward separation. That which lacks composition of these opposites has no death, because every opposite seeks to separate from its neighbor.

Therefore, God, the Exalted, saying: "He who created..." implies that He mixed these elements and preserved their composition for a period. He is capable of preserving them for longer than that. Thus, when death occurs, it is not out of necessity, but by the action of an active, choosing agent, which is God, the Exalted. "So it is He who causes death and gives life."

If one asks: When did He cause death and give life so that this could be known through observation, given that observation is based on the presence of life and death?

We offer several interpretations:

1. Sequence Reversal: It is a matter of precedence and postponement, as if He meant: "He gives life and causes death."
2. Near Future: It refers to the future, as the matter is near. It is said, "So-and-so has arrived," or "The night has entered," when their time and place are imminent. Similarly, giving life and causing death refer to what is about to happen.
3. Creation of States: He caused death (أمات) by creating death and inertness within the elements, and then He composed them and gave life (أحيا) by creating sensation and movement within them.

ثُمَّ قَالَ تَعَالَى: (Then God, the Exalted, said:)

وَأَنَّهُ خَلَقَ الزَّوْجَيْنِ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنثَى (And that it is He who created the pair, the male and the female.)