The unbelievers say: “What! After we have become dust, we and our forefathers, shall we be brought back (to life)? We have been promised this before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.” Say: “Go all over the earth and see what happened in the end to the guilty.”
Do not grieve over them, nor be distressed by what they scheme. They ask: “When will this promise be fulfilled, if what you say be true?” Say: “It may well be that something of that which you so hastily demand has already drawn close to you.” (The Ants; Al-Naml: 27: 67-72)
The first of these verses highlights what has always been the most difficult point for the unbelievers to accept. Could it be true that after life has departed from us, and our bodies have decomposed and been reduced to dust and ashes, which happens to all dead people within a certain period of their burial, apart from some exceptional cases, we will be brought back to life? Is it true that we and our forefathers, who had died long before us, will be raised up from the earth when we have become part of its dust? “The unbelievers say: What! After we have become dust, we and our forefathers, shall we be brought back (to life)?”
This physical image acts as a barrier preventing them from accepting the possibility of future life. They forget that they have been brought into this life from nothing. No one knows where the atoms and cells that make up their bodies were initially. They were scattered in the earth, deep in the sea and high in the air. Some came from the soil, some from space and water, and some from the sun. Indeed, some were breathed in by man, plant or animal, and some came from a carcass that has decomposed allowing some of its elements to evaporate. These atoms and cells were then part of some food or drink, or part of the air people breathe, or the rays to which they get exposed. Then this countless multitude from an unknown number of sources was assembled in a fertilized egg that clinged to the wall of a woman’s uterus, then grew and acquired a human form. After a long journey through life, it became no more than a dead body wrapped in sheets, ready for burial. Thus was their first creation. What is so strange about bringing them back in the same form, or in a different one, for their second life? But this was what those unbelievers of old used to say. It continues to be said today by some unbelievers, albeit a little differently.
And they followed this absurdity with ridicule: “We have been promised this before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.” They were fully aware that earlier messengers had warned their forefathers in the past, which indicates that those Arabs were not totally unaware of faith. Rather, they thought that such promises had not been fulfilled. Therefore, they discarded the new promise, describing it as fables that were circulated among ancient people and Muhammad was reviving them. They forget that the Day of Judgment arrives at the time appointed for it, and it will neither be put forward because people hasten it, nor delayed to fulfill their hopes. Its time has been set by God and remains known to Him and unknown to all creatures. When Gabriel asked the Prophet about its timing, he said: “The one being asked about it knows no more about it than the one putting the question.” (Related by Muslim, Abu Dawud, Al-Nasa’i, Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah).
At this point, the surah directs the unbelievers to turn their minds to the end met by earlier communities who, like them, denied the warnings given by God’s messengers. These are described here as the guilty ones: “Say: Go all over the earth and see what happened in the end to the guilty.” This directive is meant to broaden their view. No human generation stands in isolation. Every generation is subject to the same laws and rules that apply to the rest. What happened to those who were guilty in the past may happen to the guilty ones in later generations, because divine laws admit no favoritism. Traveling in the land is certain to inform them of past experiences that could have a lesson for them. It opens their minds and hearts to light. The Qur’an directs people to learn of the operation of divine laws and how they operate so as to broaden their vision and give wider dimensions to their life.
Having given this directive to unbelievers, the surah spells God’s order to the Prophet to leave them to their destiny. He was not to feel distressed at what they might be scheming. They would not be able to cause him any harm. Nor was he to grieve for them, because he had already done his duty, delivering God’s message and warning them against what fate awaits them: “Do not grieve over them, nor be distressed by what they scheme.” This verse tells us of the Prophet’s compassionate attitude. He grieved over what could happen to his people, because he knew what happened to earlier communities that rejected God’s messages. The verse also tells us how wicked their scheming was against the Prophet, his message and followers.
The surah continues its discussion of what the unbelievers used to say about the resurrection and their refusal to take the warnings of God’s impending punishment seriously: “They ask: When will this promise be fulfilled, if what you say be true.” They said this whenever they were reminded of what happened to earlier communities, even though they used to pass by the areas where they lived, such as Lot’s townships, the Thamud’s dwellings at Al-Hijr, the Aad’s place at Al-Ahqaf, and the dwelling place of Sheba after it was destroyed by the floods. In ridicule they asked the Prophet when would those warnings come true. If you speak the truth, then let us have it now, or at least give us an exact timing for it.