Tafsir of Qaf 50:1-3

Classification: Meccan (except for verse 38, which is Medinan). Number of Verses: 45 (revealed after al-Mursalat).

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

{ Qaf. By the Glorious Qur’an. }

• Qaf: One of the letters of the alphabet, used to signify the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, which is composed of the very letters they use in their speech, yet they are unable to produce its like.
• By the Glorious Qur’an: An oath by the Qur’an, characterized by its nobility, abundance of benefit, and high status.

{ Nay, they wondered that a warner came to them from among themselves; so the disbelievers said, "This is a strange thing!" }

• Nay, they wondered: The particle bal (nay) serves to transition from the oath to the subject of the oath, which is the refutation of their denial of the Resurrection. They were astonished that a human being from their own people was sent as a messenger.
• This is a strange thing: They described the message of the Resurrection as something astonishing and impossible.

{ "When we have died and become dust? That is a far-fetched return." }

• When we have died and become dust?: An interrogative of denial and impossibility.
• That is a far-fetched return: They mean that returning to life after the body has decomposed into dust is a return that is remote from reason and impossible to occur.

Qāf, and the Glorious Qur’an.

The discourse regarding {Qāf, and the Glorious Qur’an} is identical to that of {Ṣād, and the Qur’an, possessor of the Reminder. Nay, those who disbelieve...} (Ṣād: 1–2), as they both converge in a single stylistic approach.

The Glorious (al-Majīd): Possessing glory and honor above all other books. Whoever encompasses its meanings with knowledge and acts upon what is within it becomes glorious before God and before people. It is through a connection to God, the Glorious (al-Majīd), that it is permissible for it to be described by His attribute.

His saying, "Nay, they wondered": {That a warner from among them has come to them} is a rejection of their wonderment at that which is not a matter of wonder. It is that a man from among them—whose lineage, justice, and trustworthiness they have known—should warn them of fear. Whoever is of such a character can only be a sincere advisor to his people, compassionate toward them, and fearful that harm might reach them or misfortune befall them. If he knows that a danger has loomed over them, it is incumbent upon him to warn and caution them; how much more so regarding that which is the ultimate of fears and the extremity of dangers?

It is also a rejection of their wonderment at what he warned them of—the Resurrection—despite their knowledge of God Almighty’s power to create the heavens and the earth and what is between them, His ability to originate and innovate all things, their own admission of the first creation, and the testimony of reason that there must be a recompense.

Then, He relied upon one of the two rejections with His saying: {But the disbelievers said, "This is a strange thing. When we have died..."} as an indication that their wonderment at the Resurrection is more deeply rooted in improbability and more deserving of rejection. The noun "the disbelievers" was placed in the position of the pronoun to testify that, in this statement of theirs, they are embarking upon grave disbelief.

"This" (hādhā): An allusion to the return (to life). "When" (idhā): Governed by an implied verb; its meaning is: "Shall we return when we die and decay?" {That is a far return}: Improbable and rejected, like your saying: "This is a far-fetched statement." One says, "So-and-so has gone far (abʿada) in his statement." Its meaning is: far from imagination and custom.

It is permissible for "the return" (al-rajʿ) to mean "the returned" (al-marjūʿ), which is the answer. In this interpretation, it is the speech of God Almighty, expressing the improbability of their denial of the Resurrection they were warned about; pausing before it, according to this interpretation, is good.

It has been recited: (idhā mitnā) as a declarative statement, meaning: "When we die, after we return," and what points to this is {That is a far return}.

If you ask: What is the governor of the adverb (idhā) if "the return" means "the returned"? I say: That which is indicated by the warner regarding that which is warned of, which is the Resurrection.

{We know what the earth consumes of them, and with Us is a preserved record.}