2:73

Faqulnad riboohu biba'dihaa; kazaalika yuhyil laa hul mawtaa wa yureekum aayaatihee
la'allakum ta'qiloon

We said, "Strike him with part of it." Thus God brings the dead to life; and He
shows you His signs, that you may understand.

So We said: "Strike him (the dead man) with a piece of it (the cow). Thus Allah
brings the dead to life and shows you His Ayat
(proofs, evidences, etc.) so that you may understand.

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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- So We said: "Strike him (the dead man) with a piece of it (the cow)" meaning,
"any part of the
cow will produce the miracle (if they struck the dead man with it). We were not
told which
part of the cow they used, as this matter does not benefit us either in matters of
life or
religion. Otherwise, Allah would have made it clear for us. Instead, Allah made
this matter
vague, so this is why we should leave it vague. Allah's statement

"Thus Allah brings the dead to life"

means, They struck him with it , and he came back to life.

- This Ayah demonstrates Allah's ability in bringing the dead back to life. Allah
made this
incident proof against the Jews that the Resurrection shall occur, and ended their
disputing
and stubbornness over the dead person.

- Allah ment ioned His bringing the dead back to life in five instances in Surat
Al-Baqarah. First
Allah said,

"Then We raised you up after your death). He then mentioned the story about the
cow. Allah
also mentioned the story of those who escaped death in their land, while they were
numbering
in the thousands. He also mentioned the story of the Prophet who passed by a
village that was
destroyed, the story of Abraham and the four birds, and the land that comes back to
life after
it has died. All these incidents and stories alert us to the fact that bodies shall
again become
whole, after they were rotten. The proof of Resurrection is also reiterated in
Allah's statement

"And a sign for them is the dead land. We give it life, and We bring forth from it
grains, so that
they eat thereof. And We have made therein gardens of date palms and grapes, and We
have
caused springs of water to gush forth therein. So that they may eat of the fruit
thereof and
their hands made it not. Will they not then give thanks (36:33-35)

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

So, We said, “Strike (with the divine forces in your essence) the dead with a part
of (the cow you slaughtered).” Thus does Allah bring the dead to life. He shows you
the signs (of the forces in your essence) so that you might use your reason
(evaluate).

...
[2:73] so We said, ‘Smite him, the slain man, with part of it’, and so when he was
struck with its tongue or its tail, he came back to life and said, ‘So-and-so
killed me’, and after pointing out two of his cousins, he died; the two [killers]
were denied the inheritance and were later killed. God says: even so, is the
revival, for, God brings to life the dead, and He shows you His signs, the proofs
of His power, so that you might understand, [that you might] reflect and realise
that the One capable of reviving a single soul is also capable of reviving a
multitude of souls, and then believe.
...