2305 Allah, Who created all that is in the heavens and on earth, has surely the power to receive the life of individual souls after their bodies have perished-and revive them with memories of their past life and for a continuation of their spiritual history. Only He has fixed a term for each stage of our existence, which we can neither prolong nor shorten. 2306 This phrase carries us back to
17:89. after we began the argument about the real motives for the rejection of the Qur'an by sceptics. That argument is now closed in a sort of minor circle within the major circle sketched in n. 2304 above.