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سُورَةُ طه · 20:55
MeccanRevelation order ٤٥Juzʾ ١٦Page ٣١٥

۞ مِنْهَا خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ وَفِيهَا نُعِيدُكُمْ وَمِنْهَا نُخْرِجُكُمْ تَارَةً أُخْرَىٰ

٥٥
Saheeh International · EN

From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time.

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Introduction

This is āyah 55 of Sūrat Taa-Haa (Ta-Ha), the 45th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 16. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

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Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
45 of 114
Surah
Taa-Haa (20)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

From it We created you and to it We shall return you. Know that the Adamite is two things: spirit and body. The spirit is from light, and light is celestial. The body is from dust, and dust is terrestrial. The spirit wants to go up because it is celestial. The body wants to go down because it is terrestrial. In the perfection of His power, the King bound the two together. The spirit was bound to the body, and the body was bound to the spirit, so both are in bonds. The spirit and the body settled down together. On the day of death, when the life of the servant comes to an end and the moment of death arrives, the bonds are loosened, as when a bird comes out of its cage. The spirit rises up from the body and goes skyward to its nest. The body takes the road of the earth to its center. The spirit is put into a lantern of light, which is hung from the tree of blessedness. The body is wrapped in a shroud and entrusted to the earth. This is why the Lord of the worlds says, “From it We created you and to it We shall return you.” After a few days pass, the spirit comes to gaze on the body. It sees the state of the body changed and it laments. It says, “O heed-taking eyesight, O narcissus-like eyes, where is your seeing? O wisdom-speaking tongue, where is your sweet talking? O painted, lovely face, where is your adornment and beauty? O you who came from dust, were supported by dust, were provided for by dust, were put back into dust, and became nothing in dust!” O father of dust, is not our creation from dust, and our return to dust? So what is the meaning of regret when we bury dust in dust, O father of dust! It is as if the King is saying, “Once I make dust the cause of being, and then again I make it the cause of nonbeing. Thus the world's folk will know that I am perfectly powerful, and I give being to all that is.” O chevalier! If you ever pass through a graveyard, be careful to look at that encampment with an eye to taking heed.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Who has made earth for you like a bed; and has opened ways for you therein, and has sent down water (rain) from the sky. And We have brought forth with it various kinds of vegetation (53)Eat and pasture your cattle; verily, in this are Ayat for men of understanding (54)Thereof We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again (55)And indeed We showed him (Fir'awn) all Our Ayat, but he denied and refused (56) The Completion of Musa's Reply to Fir'awn This is from the completion of Musa's speech concerning the description of His Lord when Fir'awn asked him about Him. He (Musa) said, الَّذِي أَعْطَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَىٰ (He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.) Then, Fir'awn attempted to present some argumentative rebuttal during Musa's reply. Yet, Musa continued by saying, "He is the One Who made …
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

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Provenance

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