Surah Al-Jaathiya
Chapter 45 · Verse 24 · Revealed in Makkah
“And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
The Conviction of the Disbelievers, Their Argument and the Refutation of it
Allah mentions here the creed of Ad-Dahriyyah and the Arab idolators who embraced their creed, denying Resurrection,
وَقَالُواْ مَا هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ "...and nothing destroys us except time...(45:24) " The word dahr means ` time from the beginning of the world to its end'. It also refers to ` a very long period of time'. The atheists alleged that their life and death have nothing to do with Divine will and command. They happen under natural causes. Death is a process which they say they experience when their human limbs, organs and abilities diminish on account of constant use and, with the passage of time, the matter becomes dissolved and is destroyed; and that this is the be-all and end-all of human existence, there being no life hereafter. Likewise, life has nothing to do with Divine will and command. Life too, like death, happens under movement of material causes.
Reviling Time Is Inappropriate
What does this verse bring up for you today?