The Quran

259

أَو كَالَّذي مَرَّ عَلىٰ قَريَةٍ وَهِيَ خاوِيَةٌ عَلىٰ عُروشِها قالَ أَنّىٰ يُحيي هٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعدَ مَوتِها ۖ فَأَماتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ ۖ قالَ كَم لَبِثتَ ۖ قالَ لَبِثتُ يَومًا أَو بَعضَ يَومٍ ۖ قالَ بَل لَبِثتَ مِائَةَ عامٍ فَانظُر إِلىٰ طَعامِكَ وَشَرابِكَ لَم يَتَسَنَّه ۖ وَانظُر إِلىٰ حِمارِكَ وَلِنَجعَلَكَ آيَةً لِلنّاسِ ۖ وَانظُر إِلَى العِظامِ كَيفَ نُنشِزُها ثُمَّ نَكسوها لَحمًا ۚ فَلَمّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ قالَ أَعلَمُ أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَديرٌ

Muhammad Asad

Or [art thou, O man, of the same mind] as he¹ who passed by a town deserted by its people, with its roofs caved in, [and] said, "How could God bring all this back to life after its death?"² Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years; whereafter He brought him back to life [and] said: "How long hast thou remained thus?" He answered: "I have remained thus a day, or part of a day." Said [God]: "Nay, but thou hast remained thus for a hundred years! But look at thy food and thy drink - untouched is it by the passing of years - and look at thine ass!³ And [We did all this so that We might make thee a symbol unto men. And look at the bones [of animals and men] - how We put them together and then clothe them with flesh!"⁴ And when [all this] became clear to him, he said: "I know [now] that God has the power to will anything!"

Lit., "Or like him". The words interpolated by me between brackets are based on Zamakhshari's interpretation of this passage, which connects with the opening of the preceding verse.
The story told in this verse is obviously a parable meant to illustrate God's power to bring the dead back to life: and, thus, it is significantly placed between Abraham's words in verse 258, "My Sustainer is He who grants life and deals death", and his subsequent request, in verse 260, to be shown how God resurrects the dead. The speculations of some of the earlier commentators as to the "identity" of the man and the town mentioned in this story are without any substance, and may have been influenced by Talmudic legends.
Sc., "and observe that it is alive": thus pointing out that God has the power to grant life indefinitely, as well as to resurrect the dead.
The Qur'an frequently points to the ever-recurring miracle of birth, preceded by the gradual evolution of the embryo in its mother's womb, as a visible sign of God's power to create - and therefore also to re-create life.