Al-Baqarah Verse 28 | 2:28

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُوْنَ بِاللّٰهِ وَكُنْتُمْ اَمْوَاتًا فَاَحْيَاكُمْۚ ثُمَّ يُمِيْتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيْكُمْ ثُمَّ اِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُوْنَ ( البقرة: ٢٨ )

kayfa

كَيْفَ

How

takfurūna

تَكْفُرُونَ

(can) you disbelieve

bil-lahi

بِٱللَّهِ

in Allah?

wakuntum

وَكُنتُمْ

While you were

amwātan

أَمْوَٰتًا

dead

fa-aḥyākum

فَأَحْيَٰكُمْۖ

then He gave you life

thumma

ثُمَّ

then

yumītukum

يُمِيتُكُمْ

He will cause you to die

thumma

ثُمَّ

then

yuḥ'yīkum

يُحْيِيكُمْ

He will give you life

thumma

ثُمَّ

then

ilayhi

إِلَيْهِ

to Him

tur'jaʿūna

تُرْجَعُونَ

you will be returned

Kaifa takfuroona billaahi wa kuntum amwaatan fa ahyaakum summa yumeetukum summa yuhyeekum summaa ilaihi turja'oon (al-Baq̈arah 2:28)

Sahih International:

How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned. (Al-Baqarah [2] : 28)

1 Mufti Taqi Usmani

“How is it that you deny Allah, while you were lifeless and He gave you life; then He will make you die, and then He will make you live again, and then to Him you will be returned?

2 Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

3 Ruwwad Translation Center

4 A. J. Arberry

5 Abdul Haleem

6 Abdul Majid Daryabadi

7 Abdullah Yusuf Ali

8 Abul Ala Maududi

9 Ahmed Ali

10 Ahmed Raza Khan

11 Ali Quli Qarai

12 Ali Ünal

13 Amatul Rahman Omar

14 English Literal

15 Faridul Haque

16 Hamid S. Aziz

17 Hilali & Khan

18 Maulana Mohammad Ali

19 Mohammad Habib Shakir

20 Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

21 Muhammad Sarwar

22 Qaribullah & Darwish

23 Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

24 Wahiduddin Khan

25 Talal Itani

26 Tafsir jalalayn

How do you, people of Mecca, disbelieve in God, when you were dead, semen inside loins, and He gave you life, in the womb and in this world by breathing Spirit into you (the interrogative here is either intended to provoke amazement at their [persistent] unbelief despite the evidence established, or intended as a rebuke); then He shall make you dead, after your terms of life are completed, then He shall give you life, at the Resurrection, then to Him you shall be returned!, after resurrection, whereupon He shall requite you according to your deeds; and He states, as proof of the Resurrection, when they denied it;

27 Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah testifies to the fact that He exists and that He is the Creator and the Sustainer Who has full authority over His servants,

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتاً فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

How can you disbelieve in Allah seeing that you were dead and He gave you life! Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life (on the Day of Resurrection) and then unto Him you will return.

How can anyone deny Allah's existence or worship others with Him while;
وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتاً فَأَحْيَاكُمْ
(You were dead and He gave you life),

meaning, He brought them from the state of non-existence to life.

Similarly, Allah said,

أَمْ خُلِقُواْ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَـلِقُونَ

أَمْ خَلَقُواْ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ بَل لاَّ يُوقِنُونَ

Were they created by nothing! Or were they themselves the creators! Or did they create the heavens and the earth! Nay, but they have no firm belief. (52;35-36)

and,

هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الاِنسَـنِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْياً مَّذْكُوراً

Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning. (76;1)

There are many other Ayat on this subject.

Ibn Jarir reported from Ata that Ibn Abbas said that,
وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتاً فَأَحْيَاكُمْ
(Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life) means,

"You did not exist beforehand. You were nothing until Allah created you; He will bring death to you and then bring you back to life during Resurrection."

Ibn Abbas then said, "This is similar to Allah's statement;

قَالُواْ رَبَّنَأ أَمَتَّنَا اثْنَتَيْنِ وَأَحْيَيْتَنَا اثْنَتَيْنِ

They will say;"Our Lord! You have made us to die twice and You have given us life twice." (40;11)