50فَانظُر إِلىٰ آثارِ رَحمَتِ اللَّهِ كَيفَ يُحيِي الأَرضَ بَعدَ مَوتِها ۚ إِنَّ ذٰلِكَ لَمُحيِي المَوتىٰ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَديرٌAli UnalLook, then, at the imprints of God’s Mercy – how He revives the dead earth after its death: certainly then it is He Who will revive the dead (in a similar way). He has full power over everything.1The Qur’ān puts forward various arguments concerning the Resurrection. For example, to impress upon the human heart the wonder of what the Almighty will accomplish in the Hereafter, and to prepare the human mind to accept and understand it, the Qur’ān presents the wonder of what He accomplishes here in the world. It gives examples of God’s comprehensive acts in the macro-cosmos and, at times, presents His overall disposal of the macro-cosmos, normo-cosmos, and micro-cosmos (the universe, humanity, and atoms, respectively). Verse 13: 2 is an example of this. The Qur’ān presents the phenomenon of the universe’s creation, which it defines as the first origination (56: 62), while describing the raising of the dead as the second origination (53: 47), to establish the Resurrection. It also directs our attention to our own origin for this same end (22: 5; 23: 13–16). In making analogies between the Resurrection and God’s deeds in this world, the Qur’ān sometimes alludes to the deeds God will perform in the Hereafter in such a way that we are convinced of them, drawing analogies to what we observe here. It also shows His similar deeds in the world and makes comparisons between them and the Resurrection. One example is 36: 78–81. The Qur’ān likens the Resurrection to the earth’s springtime rejuvenation or revival following its death in winter. As well as innumerable instances of death and revival or replacement that are constantly witnessed in nature and in our own bodies, an overall death and revival is repeated every year. During winter, a white “shroud” covers much of the earth. Nature already has turned pale and shows fewer traces of life. Trees seem to be no more than hard bones. Grass fades away, flowers wither, migrating birds leave, and insects and reptiles disappear. But winter is not eternal, for it is followed by a general revival. When the weather becomes warm, trees begin to bud and, wearing their finery, present themselves to the Eternal Witness. The soil swells, and grass and flowers start to blossom everywhere. Seeds that fell into the ground the previous autumn have germinated and, having annihilated themselves, begin to grow into new forms of life without suffering the least confusion. All of these new things are similar (but not identical) to those that came into being the previous year. In short, nature appears before us in all its splendor and finery. The raising of the dead on the Day of Judgment will be very much like this (41: 39; 71: 17–18; 75: 36–40).