《黄牛》（使人生死）258–260

延续关于生与死之奇妙本质的主题，这章经文还讲述了另一个简短的故事：“或者，（你难道没有听说）那个人吗？他经过一座已经完全荒废的城镇，说：‘真主怎样能使这城镇在它已经死亡之后复活呢？’于是真主使他死去一百年，然后让他复活，并问道：‘你在这里停留了多久？’他说：‘我停留了一天或一天的一部分。’真主说：‘不，你已经停留了一百年。你看看你的食物和饮料：它们都没有腐坏。再看看你的驴子。我们要使你成为世人的一个迹象。你看那些骨头，我们如何将它们竖立起来，然后又给它们披上血肉。’当这一切对他变得清楚之后，他说：‘我现在知道，真主对万物都有大能。’”（第259节）

Still on the subject of the miraculous nature of life and death, the sūrah relates another brief tale: “Or, [are you not aware) of him who, passing by a township which had fallen into utter ruin, exclaimed: “How can God bring this town back to life now that it is dead?’ Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and said, ‘How long have you remained thus?’ He said, ‘I have remained thus a day or part of a day.’ God said, No. You have remained thus for a hundred years. Just look at your food and drink: none of it has rotted. And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.’ When it had all become clear to him, he said, I know now that God has power over all things.’“ (Verse 259)

《古兰经》并未提供那个人或那座废墟城镇的身份细节，因为这些细节对故事的意义和感染力并无多大增益。

Again, the Qur’ān does not give details of the identity of the man or the ruined township because such details add little to the significance and impact of the story.

如果这些细节是必要的，《古兰经》就不会省略它们。尽管缺少具体描述，这一场景却栩栩如生，以极其清晰而有力的画面激发读者的想象。这是一幅死亡、荒凉与毁灭的景象：一座城镇已成废墟，墙垣与柱石都已坍塌于地基之上，那人难以置信地惊呼："神怎能使这座已经死亡的城镇重新复活？"（第259节）这一效果被表达得极为生动传神。

Were these necessary, they would not have been omitted in the Qur’ān. Despite the absence of detail, however, the scene comes to life and stirs the imagination with great clarity and power. It is a scene of death, desolation and destruction; a town in ruins, with walls and columns caved in on their foundations, the effect of which is eloquently expressed in the man’s incredulity as he exclaims: “How can God bring this town back to life now that it is dead?” (Verse 259)

这个人完全清楚神的临在，但眼前那片荒芜景象的冲击力如此强烈，以至于他难以置信地自问：那片废墟怎么可能重新恢复生机？这是一幅极其动人、感人至深的画面，《古兰经》以其无与伦比的风格，用雄辩和令人惊叹的卓越笔触将其描绘出来。

The man is perfectly aware of God’s presence, but the impact of that scene of devastation is so powerful that he wonders in disbelief how life could ever be returned to that rubble. It is a most evocative and moving impression which the Qur’ān, in its inimitable style, depicts with eloquence and awesome brilliance.

“于是真主使他死去一百年，然后使他复活，并说：‘你在此处停留了多久？’他说：‘我停留了一天或一天的一部分。’真主说：‘不，你已经在此停留了一百年。你看看你的食物和饮料，它们一点也没有腐坏。再看看你的驴。我要使你成为世人的一个迹象。你看那些骨骸，我如何将它们竖立起来，然后用血肉覆盖它们。’”（第259节）

“Thereupon God caused him to be dead for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and said, ‘How long have you remained thus?’ He said, I have remained thus a day or part of a day.’ God said, No. You have remained thus for a hundred years. Just look at your food and drink, none of it has rotted. And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.’” (Verse 259)

这个人并没有得到关于死去的身体如何能够重新复活的理性论证，而是他自己亲身经历了这一过程。这样一种个人化的直接方式，往往比任何逻辑推论或可见的演示都更为有效。它调动了人的感官、情感和感受，其冲击力强烈而深刻。

The man was not given a rational argument as to how a dead body could be brought to life again, but was himself made to undergo that experience. Such a personal direct approach is often more effective than any logical or visible demonstration. It involves one’s senses, emotions and feelings. Its impact is sharp and overwhelming.

当这个人死去时，他自然失去了对时间的全部感知，无法判断自己处于那种状态已有多久。这很容易理解，因为即使人的感官运作正常，也可能对事物作出错误的判断。我们的物质感官并不是唯一的，也不是最准确的感知方式。

While he was dead, the man naturally lost all sense of time and could not tell how long he had been in that state. This is easy to understand, since human beings can misjudge things even when they are in control of their senses. Our material senses are not the only or the most accurate means of perception.

神说:“不然,你已经昏睡了一百年。”(第259节)但那人无从得知。他的食物依然保存完好。

God said: “No. You have remained thus for a hundred years.” (Verse 259) But the man had no way of telling. His provisions remained in good condition.

“看看你的驴子。我们要使你成为世人的一个迹象。你看那些骨头，我们怎样把它们组合起来，然后给它们披上血肉。”（第259节）这里所说的骨头，是指那人自己的骨头，还是指一些注释家所主张的？如果是他自己的骨头，他立刻就会察觉，也就不会认为自己只停留了几个小时或一天。因此，我们倾向于坚持这样的观点：这里所指的是驴子的骨头。驴子的骨头在那人眼前被重新聚集起来并披上血肉，这是真主大能的一个令人信服的迹象。那人、驴子和食物在相同的自然与环境条件下遭遇了不同的变化，这是另一个迹象，表明真主那绝对、无限、无拘无束的大能。这样，那人就明白了真主如何能让那座荒芜的城镇重新复活。

“And look at your ass. We will make you a sign for mankind. Look you at the bones, how We put them up and then clothe them with flesh.” (Verse 259) Which bones are referred to here: the man’s own bones, as some commentators maintain? Had it been so, he would have immediately noticed, and would not have thought that he remained in that state for only a few hours or a day. Therefore, we are inclined to uphold the view that the reference here is to the bones of the ass whose gathering together and covering with flesh, before the man’s own eyes, was a compelling sign of God’s power. The fact that the man, the ass, and the provisions were affected in different wais under the same physical and environmental conditions is another sign of that absolute, limitless and unrestricted divine power. Thus the man gas made to understand how God could bring that desolate town back to life again.

关于这一奇迹是如何实现的，答案是：它与其他一切奇迹的实现方式相同，包括生命本身的创造，而我们往往忽略了这一点，忘记了我们对其真相是多么的一无所知。我们所知道的只是：生命来自真主，按照祂所意欲的方式而降生。

As to how this miracle was achieved, the answer is: in the same way as every other miracle, including the creation of life itself, which we often tend to overlook, forgetting how totally ignorant we are of its reality. All we know is that life comes from God, in the way He wills it to be.

在其著作《物种起源》中，英国杰出的生物学家查尔斯·达尔文将生命追溯到变形虫，这是一种简单的单细胞生物，但他并未进一步解释生命的起源。出于多方面非科学的原因，这些原因与欧洲科学与基督教会之间的历史冲突有关，达尔文的理论并不承认生命必定源于造物主这一符合逻辑且显而易见的真理。

In his study The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, the eminent British biologist, traces life back to the amoeba, a simple single-celled organism, but goes no further in explaining the origin of life. For most unscientific reasons, relating to the historic conflict between science and the Christian Church in Europe, Darwin’s theory does not acknowledge the logical and evident truth that life must originate with a creator.

达尔文认为，用造物主的存在来解释生命的事务，就是在一个纯粹机械的情境中引入了一个非自然的因素。

Darwin claims that to explain life’s affairs by the notion of the existence of a creator is to introduce an unnatural element into a purely mechanical situation.

事实上，情况远非纯粹的机械性问题。我们需要寻找的，是对这一摆在眼前的谜团的解释。这一点其实人人都看得清清楚楚。

The situation, in fact, is far from being a purely mechanical one. What we need to look for is an explanation for this mystery that stares us in the face. It is indeed evident for all to see.

达尔文本人也不得不依凭自然常识，把生命的整个现象归因于“第一因”，却没有告诉我们这一原因究竟是什么。

Darwin himself is compelled by the force of natural common sense to refer the whole phenomenon of life to ‘the first cause’, without telling us what this cause was.

它是能够最初启动生命的力量，而且按照达尔文自己那一颇具争议的论点，它还能够引导最初那个活细胞的后代，朝达尔文所设想的自然选择过程中的方向发展。这纯粹是逃避、含混和混乱。

It is the power capable of initiating life in the first instance and, according to Darwin’s own controversial thesis, is capable of directing the descendants of the first living cell in the direction Darwin supposed they had taken in the process of natural selection. It is pure evasion, obfuscation and muddle.

回到那个人与废墟之城的寓言，人们不禁要问：为何同处一地、处于相同的环境条件之下的事物，所受的影响却各不相同？这无法用生命的创造或复苏来解释。其缘由在于天命的意志是无限且不受约束的，它不受我们视为绝对而不容置疑的任何规律或需求所限制。

Going back to the parable of the man and the ruined city, one wonders what could explain the fact that things can exist in the same place and under the same environmental conditions but be affected differently. It could not be explained in terms of the creation or restoration of life. The explanation lies in the limitless and unrestrained nature of the divine will, which is bound by none of the laws or needs we consider absolute and incontrovertible.

人类若将人的理性或"科学"的预设套用在安拉身上，或套用在祂的作为上，便会陷入严重的错误，原因有多种。人所拥有的知识和经验是有限的，人对这些经验的理解与诠释也不完美，又怎能用它们来约束真主或祂的作为呢？即使我们假定人所发现的定律是最终而确定的，我们又凭什么确信它们就是究竟而至高的真理呢？

Human beings fall into grave error when they apply human rational or ‘scientific’ assumptions to God Almighty or His actions, for a number of reasons. How can God or His actions be subjected to laws based on man’s limited knowledge and experience, and on his imperfect understanding and interpretation of that experience? Even if we assume that the laws man has discovered are final and conclusive, how can we be certain that they are the ultimate and overriding truth?

神的绝对神圣权能创造了法则，但不受这些法则的约束。祂完全自由地作出决定。

The absolute divine power of God creates laws but is not restricted by them. It is completely free to decide.

从这段经文中我们可以学到，除了赐予生命和使人死亡之外，真主的权能与旨意是绝对的。《古兰经》特别强调这一事实，并力求将其植根于信士的心中，以引导他们直接归向真主，并在有形的物质世界之外寻求祂。我们当前故事中的那个人作出了正确的结论，他说："我现在知道，真主对万物都有权能。"（第259节）

We learn from this passage that in addition to granting life and causing death, God’s power and will are absolute. The Qur’ān lays particular emphasis on this fact and seeks to instil it in the hearts of believers in order to refer them directly to God, whom they should seek beyond the visible material world. The man in our present story had come to the right conclusion when he said: “I know now that God has power over all things.” (Verse 259)

《黄牛》（使人生死）258–260

一个容易解决的争论

生命的起源

真主如何复活死者