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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Man does not tire of calling for good, but when evil touches him, he becomes despondent and hopeless. And if We give him a taste of mercy from Us after hardship has touched him, he will surely say, ‘This is for me, and I do not think the Hour is going to stand. And if I return to my Lord, I will surely have the best with Him.’ We will surely inform those who disbelieved of what they did, and We will surely make them taste a severe punishment.”

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
In this verse and the one before it, the state of the disbelieving human being is explained, namely his disbelief in the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and his pride in himself, as indicated by his saying:
And if We let him taste mercy from Us after an adversity which has touched him, he will surely say, "This is [due] to me وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ رَحْمَةً مِنَّا مِنْ بَعْدِ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَذَا لِي
[Fussilat 41:50]
This indicates his severe disbelief, his self-admiration, and his pride in himself.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is that Allah the Exalted shows mercy to the disbeliever, as He said:
And if We let him taste mercy ولئن أذقناه رحمة
[Fussilat 41:50]
Based on this, if we were to ask a questioner: Does Allah show mercy to the disbeliever? The answer is: Yes, He shows him mercy, and the evidence is this verse. But know that the mercy of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is of two types: a specific mercy and a general mercy. That by which the body is sustained is from the general mercy, and that by which the religion is sustained is from the specific mercy. Stay with us; mercy is of two types: general and specific. That by which the body is sustained is general, because it includes the believer and the disbeliever, the righteous and the wicked, humans and animals; this is general mercy. And that by which the religion is sustained is the specific mercy, and this is exclusive to the believers. The difference between them is that the general mercy is only nourishment for the body and disappears when the body disappears, while the specific mercy is nourishment for the soul and remains as long as the soul remains. The soul, since Allah created it, does not perish; souls are among the things created to remain, unlike bodies. Allah said:
Everyone upon the earth will perish, كل من عليها فان
[Ar-Rahman 55:26]
But the soul does not perish, like the children in Paradise and the houris in Paradise, who were created to remain. So we say the difference between general and specific mercy is: general mercy is nourishment for bodies only and ends with the death of the body, while specific mercy is nourishment for souls and remains permanently in this world and the Hereafter.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is the explanation of the favor of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) upon the disbeliever, in that the mercy that befalls the disbeliever is from Allah, as He said:
from Us منا
.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is the disbeliever’s self-admiration, where he attributes this mercy, which is from Allah, to himself, as He said:
This is for me هذا لي
Or he attributes it to his deserving it, as if Allah has no favor over him, according to the second opinion that the meaning of His saying:
This is for me هذا لي
is that this is my due.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is the explanation of the disbeliever’s stubbornness, where he denies what the legal, rational, and sensory evidence has established, in his saying:
And I do not think the Hour will occur وما أظن الساعة قائمة
[Al-Kahf 18:36]
The legal evidence for the establishment of the Hour is numerous and cannot be counted. The rational evidence is that it is not wise for Allah to create this creation, command it and prohibit it, and allow some of it to dominate others with the sword, so that the believer fights the disbeliever, and then the end is nothing; this is foolishness. And Allah pointed to that in His saying:
Then did you think that We created you uselessly and that to Us you would not be returned?" أفحسبتم أنما خلقناكم عبثًا وأنكم إلينا لا ترجعون
[Al-Mu'minun 23:115]
What benefit is there in a creation that exists, is commanded and prohibited, and some of it is allowed to dominate others in intentional killing, and then the end is nothing? There is no benefit in this, and the wisdom of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) forbids such a thing to happen from Allah. This is a clear rational evidence that necessitates that people be resurrected to be judged for their deeds. As for the sensory evidence for the establishment of resurrection and its possibility and permissibility, Allah the Exalted repeats it in the Qur'an:
And of His signs is that you see the earth stilled ومن آياته أنك ترى الأرض خاشعة
[Fussilat 41:39]
meaning barren, with no vegetation.
but when We send down upon it rain فإذا أنزلنا عليها الماء
[Al-Hajj 22:5]
meaning: rainwater.
It trembled and swelled اهتزَّت وربَتْ
So it became alive after it was dead. Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, He who has given it life is the Giver of Life to the dead. Indeed, He is over all things competent. إنَّ الذي أحياها لمُحْيي الموتى إنَّه على كل شيء قدير
[Fussilat 41:39]
So the reviving of the earth after its death, with people as witnesses, is evidence for the possibility of reviving the dead and resurrecting them. And this is a clear sensory evidence, not rational? It is sensory, observed. Also, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has shown us in this world the reviving of the dead, so let us review this in the Qur'an: The first scene: The Children of Israel said, “We will not believe in you until we see Allah openly.” So the bolt struck them and they died, then they were resurrected. This is in this world. The second scene: The murdered man about whom the two tribes disputed, so Allah commanded them to slaughter a cow and strike the murdered man with a part of it, so they did, and the murdered man came to life and said, “The one who killed me is so-and-so.” Revival after death. The third scene: Those who came out of their homes, and they were thousands, fearing death, afraid of death, and they came out of their homes, so Allah said to them, “Die,” so they died, then He revived them. He killed them to make them know that there is no escape from the decree of Allah, then He revived them to fulfill a specified term. The fourth scene: The man of the village passed by a village that was desolate, its roofs caving in.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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