Surah Al-Jathiyah 45:24
ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ
And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming.
Tafsir of Al-Jathiyah 45:24
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 45:24
Al-Jathiyah: (24) And they said, "There is nothing..."
{We die and we live} We die, and our children live. Or, some die and others live. Or, we are dead as sperm in the loins, and then we live. Or, both states befall us: death and life. They mean: life in this world and death thereafter, with no life beyond that.
It is also recited as nuhyī (We give life) with a damma on the nun.
{Except time passing} They do not say this based on knowledge, but rather on conjecture and speculation. They used to claim that the passing of days and nights is what causes the destruction of souls. They denied the Angel of Death and his taking of souls by the command of God. They attributed every event that occurred to ad-dahr (Time/Fate), and you see their poetry filled with complaints against Time.
From this is his (peace be upon him) saying: (1022) "Do not revile Time, for God is Time." Meaning: God is the One who brings about events, not Time.
{And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, their argument is only that they say, "Bring back our forefathers, if you should be truthful." Say, "God gives you life, then causes you to die; then He will assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt, but most of the people do not know."}