Ayah 80:
الذي جعل لكم من الشجر الأخضر نارا فإذا أنتم منه توقدون
[It is] He Who made for you from the green tree, fire, and then from it you ignite.
It shouldn't be so hard for them to understand that Allaah will return them to life because He is the One Who made for them from the green tree, fire.
Shajari al-akhDar| Word Analysis
This is an idiom. It refers to a tree that is still very moist, full of life, and capable of growing. It is not like the tree which is cut down or withered. Leaves are still budding out of that tree so it is full of life.
How does fire come from that? There are several understandings which may co-exist
1. Accepting the aayaat in opposites. There were two types of trees famous in hejaz: markh and 'afaar. There branches would be rubbed together and, even when moist, would spark to create fire. This was convenient for the Arabs. But why point it out? For this person, it is contradiction for life to come out of dead. Allaah then tells him that when he lights a fire using these moist branches, what is typically not used as fuel for fire, he should realize that is two opposites which are co-existing. Most scholars point to this reading.
2. These same branches and leaves which are moist in the spring, dry to become the best fuel in the winter when they have dried.
3. They also change from the colour green to the colour of fire.
Then from it you light fire. Why has Allaah repeated the fire? Hasn't He already told us that from it comes a fire?
Remember, the idhaa shows shock and surprise. It is amazing that us as human beings knew to go from one tree to the other and use it to build a fire. Who taught us to do that? Allaah programmed us to know how to survive (20, 50)
قال ربنا الذي أعطى كل شيء خلقه ثم هدى
He said, "Our Lord is He Who gave each thing its form and then guided [it]."
This is not spiritual guidance, but basic programming for existence and living. Who teaches the child to suckle or to cry? Nobody does. It's as if its in the fitrah/nature (30, 30)
أقم وجهك للدين حنيفا فطرت الله التي فطر الناس عليها لا تبديل لخلق الله ذلك الدين القيم ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون
So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allaah upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allaah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
It is part of the greatest blessings of Allaah to not leave us as wild beasts to learn things ourselves, but to give us guidance.
This is also alluded to in (56, 71-72)
أفرأيتم النار التي تورون
And have you seen the fire that you ignite?
أأنتم أنشأتم شجرتها أم نحن المنشئون
Is it you who produced its tree or are We the producer?
A tree is a representation of life. It is green, it provides food. It is used as a metaphor for imaan, but is also used for fire which is a sign of death. Don't let this confuse you. It should be simple and easy to understand that Allaah can bring people back.
Ayah 81:
أوليس الذي خلق السماوات والأرض بقادر على أن يخلق مثلهم بلى وهو الخلاق العليم
