The Holy Quran 2:259 — Surah Al-Baqarah

Arabic text

أَوْ كَٱلَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْىِۦ هَـٰذِهِ ٱللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ۖ فَأَمَاتَهُ ٱللَّهُ مِا۟ئَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُۥ ۖ قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتَ ۖ قَالَ لَبِثْتُ يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ ۖ قَالَ بَل لَّبِثْتَ مِا۟ئَةَ عَامٍ فَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمْ يَتَسَنَّهْ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰ حِمَارِكَ وَلِنَجْعَلَكَ ءَايَةً لِّلنَّاسِ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَى ٱلْعِظَامِ كَيْفَ نُنشِزُهَا ثُمَّ نَكْسُوهَا لَحْمًا ۚ فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُۥ قَالَ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Translation

Or (did you not see) the like of him (Uzayr عليه الصلاة والسلام) who, on passing by a locality (Baytul Maqdas) that lay overturned on it roofs (had fallen to utter ruin), exclaimed (in a lamenting tone), "How shall Allaah restore life to this after its death (after its destruction)"? So Allaah (demonstrated His power to him and) caused him to die for a hundred years, then brought him back to life asking him, "How long have you remained (dead)?" He replied, “I remained (dead) for a day or a part of a day." (He said this because his soul was taken during the morning and it was towards sunset a hundred years later that he was brought back to life.) Allaah said, "No, you have remained (dead) for a hundred years. Just look at your food and drink which have not rotted (despite the long period of time). And look at your donkey! (So he looked at it and saw that its body had long decomposed and its bones lay scattered about.) And (We have done this) so that We make you a sign (a lesson) to mankind (to prove the possibility of resurrection). Look (also) at the bones, (and see) how We arrange them and cover them with flesh." (So Allaah put all the donkey's bones together, covered them with flesh and skin and brought the donkey back to life.) When the matter became apparent to him he said, "I know (I now have first-hand knowledge) that Allaah is Able to do all things."

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

The wondrous event of Uzayr ﵇: that man was the prophet Uzayr ﵇, and he knew the whole Torah by heart. Nebuchadnezzar (Bukht-Nassar) was a disbelieving king; he laid waste Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) and carried off many of the Children of Israel as captives, and among them was Uzayr ﵇.

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