The Hamlet in Ruins
A Quranic parable on resurrection and divine power over time.
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The Hamlet in Ruins is a parable found in the second chapter, Al-Baqara, of the Quran. It concerns a man who, upon seeing a ruined hamlet, questioned how God could resurrect the dead on the Day of Judgement. The incident has been identified by Abdullah Yusuf Ali with several Biblical events, including Ezekiel's vision of dry bones and Nehemiah's visit to Jerusalem in ruins.
Quick Facts
- Chapter
- Al-Baqara (second chapter of the Quran)
- Identified with
- Ezekiel's vision of dry bones
- Nehemiah's visit to Jerusalem in ruins
- Ezra the scribe, priest and reformer
- Duration of death
- a hundred years
Facts from the source article.
Narrative
The Quran narrates that a man passed by a hamlet in ruins, where the inhabitants had died generations earlier, and wondered how God could resurrect the dead on the Day of Judgment. God then caused the man to die for a hundred years and raised him to life. God asked how long he felt he had slept; the man replied perhaps a day or part of a day, and was told the truth.
The man's food and drink remained intact and fresh, demonstrating God's control over time. His donkey, however, had decayed to a skeleton. By God's power, the bones joined, and the body clothed itself with muscles, flesh, and blood, bringing the donkey back to life.
Moral
This parable centers on a man who, consumed by doubt, examines his soul as if it were an abandoned town with houses lacking foundations. He asks God how such a ruin could ever be revived.
The story teaches that time holds no power over God, who alone controls the keys to life, death, and resurrection. It warns that each moment spent in unaddressed doubt lets years slip by, causing the soul to decay into a carcass. Ultimately, the man seeks God’s guidance, and his soul is filled with life, illustrating that human power is nothing and faith must rest solely in God.
More in Last Judgment
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Hamlet in Ruins (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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