As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 17 of 182

As-Saffat 37:17

أَوَءَابَآؤُنَا ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ

“And our forefathers [as well]?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

The deniers push their objection further back in time, asking whether even their long-dead forefathers could possibly return.

A reflection

'Your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers'

A-wa-ābāʾunā al-awwalūn: and our forefathers of old? The commentators say the deniers added this to make the resurrection seem more impossible still. Their fathers had died longer ago, so their raising seemed even further out of reach.

The phrase-matching data shows how often the Quran pairs 'your forefathers of old' with an answer. When Pharaoh mocked Mūsā, Mūsā replied: 'Your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers of old' (26:26). Another surah says: 'There is no god but Him. He gives life and causes death. Your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers of old' (44:8). Later in this very surah, the prophet Ilyās tells his people the same. 'Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers of old' (37:126).

So the Quran meets the deniers exactly where they hid. They used their ancestors as the far edge of possibility, the people so long dead that surely no one could reach them. The prophets answered: the One you are speaking of is their Lord too. They are not out of His reach. They were never out of His care.

There is a quiet grandeur in that. Every generation tends to think of the ones before it as faded, finished, part of history. In the Quran's view, the dead are not history. They are servants of the same Lord, waiting in the same hand, for the same Day.

When you think of your own forebears, the great-grandparents whose names you may not even know, remember the prophets' phrase. Your Lord is their Lord. Distance in time is not distance from Him.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.