O Allah send me back!

Maqrur noticed that there were certain words and phrases repeated by the unbelievers, criminals, and the like these words were, "My Lord! Send me back! So that I may do good" and, "(Alas!) If we only had a chance to return (to the world) we shall truly be among the believers!"

 

Their words indicate a kind of hope that they could return back to life with a changed heart and mind, that they would repent of the sins they had committed. However, all their pleas and invocations were rejected because it was time for judgment. There was no opportunity to return.

 

Life was the abode of examination and affliction while the Hereafter is the abode of judgment and reward. Hence, in the Hereafter it is time for being judged for one's deeds. Since Allah knows that the unbelievers are liars and that they would return to their old ways, He answered them saying, (if they were returned (to the world), they would certainly revert to that which they were forbidden. And indeed they are liars.

 

They never believed in resurrection. They used to say, "There is no (other life) but our (present) life of this world, and never shall we be resurrected."

 

Also they said, "When we are bones and fragments (destroyed), should we really be resurrected (to be) a new creation?"

 

Allah answered them all, (And he puts forth for us a parable, and forgets his own creation. He says: "Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and have become dust?" Say (O Muhammad): "He will give life to them who created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation! "