The Quran

260

وَإِذ قالَ إِبراهيمُ رَبِّ أَرِني كَيفَ تُحيِي المَوتىٰ ۖ قالَ أَوَلَم تُؤمِن ۖ قالَ بَلىٰ وَلٰكِن لِيَطمَئِنَّ قَلبي ۖ قالَ فَخُذ أَربَعَةً مِنَ الطَّيرِ فَصُرهُنَّ إِلَيكَ ثُمَّ اجعَل عَلىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِنهُنَّ جُزءًا ثُمَّ ادعُهُنَّ يَأتينَكَ سَعيًا ۚ وَاعلَم أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَزيزٌ حَكيمٌ

Muhammad Asad

And, lo, Abraham said: "O my Sustainer! Show me how Thou givest life unto the dead!" Said He: "Hast thou, then, no faith?" [Abraham] answered: "Yea, but [let me see it] so that my heart may be set fully at rest." Said He: "Take, then, four birds and teach them to obey thee;¹ then place them separately on every hill [around thee]; then summon them: they will come flying to thee. And know that God is almighty, wise."²

Lit., "make them incline towards thee" (Zamakhshari; see also Lane IV, 1744).
My rendering of the above parable is based on the primary meaning of the imperative surhunna ilayka ("make them incline towards thee", i.e., "teach them to obey thee"). The moral of this story has been pointed out convincingly by the famous commentator Abu Muslim (as quoted by Razi): "If man is able - as he undoubtedly is - to train birds in such a way as to make them obey his call, then it is obvious that God, whose will all things obey, can call life into being by simply decreeing, 'Be!'"