Surah 6. Al-An'am, Ayah 2

Lit., "and a term is stated with Him" - i.e., known to Him alone (Manar VII, 298). Some of the authorities are of the opinion that the "term" refers to the end of the world and the subsequent resurrection, while others relate it to individual human lives. Other commentators, again, see in the first mention of this word a reference to individual lives, and in the second, to the Day of Resurrection; according to this latter interpretation, the concluding phrase might be rendered thus: "and there is [another] term...", etc. However, in view of several other occurrences of the expression ajal musamma in the Qur'an, it is best rendered here as "a term set [by Him]" or "known [to Him]", i.e., relating both to individual lives and to the world as a whole.

 i.e., created your father, Adam, from clay. Some scholars suggest that if we examine all the minerals found in the earth (potassium, nitrogen, and carbon), we find that these are the same minerals that make up our body. Furthermore when we die, our bodies are absorbed back into the ground. And when we are resurrected, we will be resurrected from the ground (see 20:55).

After the general argument, the argument comes to man personally. Can such a miserable creature, created from clay, put himself in opposition to his Creator? And can man forget or doubt that he is here only for a short term of probation? And then, after a period, comes the Day of Account before God.

This life is a period of probation. The other term leads up to Judgement.