Parable of the Hamlet in Ruins

The Qur'an, in its second chapter, Al-Baqara, Quran 2:259, mentions a parable, concerning a man who passed by a hamlet in ruins, and asked himself how God will be able to resurrect the dead on the Day of Judgement.

The incident is identified by Abdullah Yusuf Ali with a number of Biblical events. One identification is Ezekiel's vision of dry bones. Another is Nehemiah's visit to Jerusalem in ruins after the Captivity and to Ezra, the scribe, priest and reformer, about whom many similar tales have come down in Jewish tradition over time. However, all scholars of Islam agree that the identity of the man is least important as the tale is given in the Qur'an as a parable.