Quran Universe
40:57

لَخَلۡقُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ أَكۡبَرُ مِنۡ خَلۡقِ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكۡثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ

Lakhalqu alssamawati waalardi akbaru min khalqi alnnasi walakinna akthara alnnasi la yaAAlamoona

The creation of the heavens and earth is greater than the creation of mankind, but most of the people do not know.

Word by word
  1. لَخَلۡقُSurely,(the) creation
  2. ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ(of) the heavens
  3. وَٱلۡأَرۡضِand the earth
  4. أَكۡبَرُ(is) greater
  5. مِنۡthan
  6. خَلۡقِ(the) creation
  7. ٱلنَّاسِ(of) the mankind
  8. وَلَٰكِنَّbut
  9. أَكۡثَرَmost
  10. ٱلنَّاسِ(of) the people
  11. لَا(do) not
  12. يَعۡلَمُونَknow
Ghafir · 40:57Makkah

The sky is bigger than you. Bringing you back is easy.

An argument for the resurrection from scale

Compare the size
heavens and earthalready created
greater than
one humanmade again
What they accepted, what they denied
He made the skythey agreed
He cannot raise usthey denied

Ibn Kathir notes many Arabs accepted that Allah created the heavens and earth but denied the resurrection. They accepted the greater thing and denied the lesser. The One who made the sky can easily remake a person.

You look up from a dark field and see thousands of stars, and you feel small. Then you doubt He can bring you back after death. The stars are the bigger job. Most people never put the two thoughts side by side.

Rising again after death seems hard to believe.

The One who built the sky can rebuild me. That is the smaller task.

Try this

Look at the night sky for one minute tonight and think about this verse.

Related46:33
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of the people do not know (57)And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember (58)Verily, the Hour is surely coming, there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not (59)

Life after Death

Allah tells us that He will bring back His creation on the Day of Resurrection. That is very easy for Him, because He created the heavens and the earth, and creating them is greater than creating mankind, the first time and when He creates them again. The One Who is able to do that is able to do anything that is less than that. As Allah says:

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَلَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَىٰ أَنْ يُحْيِيَ الْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ بَلَىٰ إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(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? Yes, He surely is able to do all things.)(46:33) And Allah says here:

لَخَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ أَكْبَرُ مِنْ خَلْقِ النَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

(The creation of the heavens and the earth is indeed greater than the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not.) hence they do not think about or ponder this proof. Similarly, many of the Arabs recognized that Allah had created the heavens and the earth, but they denied and rejected the idea of the resurrection; they acknowledged something which was greater than that which they denied. Then Allah says:

وَمَا يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَىٰ وَالْبَصِيرُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَلَا الْمُسِيءُ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(And not equal are the blind and those who see; nor are those who believe, and do righteous good deeds, and those who do evil. Little do you remember!) The blind man who cannot see anything is not the same as the sighted man who can see everything as far as his eyesight reaches – there is a huge difference between them. By the same token, the righteous believers and the immoral disbelievers are not equal.

قَلِيلًا مَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(Little do you remember!) means, most of the people remember little.

إِنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَآتِيَةٌ

(Verily, the Hour (Day of Judgement) is surely coming,) means, it will indeed come to pass.

لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ 

(there is no doubt about it, yet most men believe not.) means, they do not believe in it, and in fact they doubt its existence altogether.