Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL ISRAA' [98]

98. That is their recompense, because they denied Our Ayat and said: ”When we are bones and fragments, shall we really be raised up as a new creation'' 99. See they not that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them. And He has decreed for them an appointed term, whereof there is no doubt. But the wrongdoers refuse but disbelief.

(Our Ayat), i.e., Our proof and evidence, and did not think that the resurrection could ever happen.'

(and said: ”When we are bones and fragments...'') meaning, when we have disintegrated and our bodies have rotted away,

(shall we really be raised up as a new creation) meaning, after we have disintegrated and disappeared and been absorbed into the earth, will we come back a second time Allah established proof against them and told them that He is able to do that, for He created the heavens and the earth, so raising them up again is easier for Him than that, as He says:

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind;) ï´¿40:57ï´¾

(Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead) ï´¿46: 33ï´¾

(Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth, able to create the like of them Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Supreme Creator. Verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ”Be!'' and it is!) (36:81-82) And Allah says here:

(See they not that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them.) meaning, on the Day of Resurrection, He will recreate and restore their bodies, as He created them in the first place.

(And He has decreed for them an appointed term, whereof there is no doubt.) means, He has set a time for them to be re-created and brought forth from their graves, an appointed time which must surely come to pass. As Allah says:

(And We delay it only for a term (already) fixed.) (11:104)

(But the wrongdoers refuse) -- after the proof has been established against them,

((and accept nothing) but disbelief.) means, they persist in their falsehood and misguidance.