There are differing opinions on who the below verse in Surah Baqarah refers to. One opinion (from Ibn Jarir) is that the man was Jeremiah when Allah revealed that Jerusalem was to be reconstructed. However, others (including Ali, Abdullah bin Salam, Ibn Abbas, Hasan, Qatadah) say this referred to Ezra.

Or ˹are you not aware of˺ the one who passed by a city which was in ruins. He wondered, “How could Allah bring this back to life after its destruction?” So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years then brought him back to life. Allah asked, “How long have you remained ˹in this state˺?” He replied, “Perhaps a day or part of a day.” Allah said, “No! You have remained here for a hundred years! Just look at your food and drink—they have not spoiled. ˹But now˺ look at ˹the remains of˺ your donkey! And ˹so˺ We have made you into a sign for humanity. And look at the bones ˹of the donkey˺, how We bring them together then clothe them with flesh!” When this was made clear to him, he declared, “˹Now˺ I know that Allah is Most Capable of everything.”2:259

Ishaq bin Bishr narrated that one day Ezra, who was a pious man, wandered into some ruins whilst travelling between some lands he owned. When he saw the ruins, he ate some of his fruits and bread and then he looked around. He wondered how Allah would bring it back to life - not in doubt but in awe and curiosity. The ruins were devastated and utterly destroyed.

Allah then sent the angel of death to take his soul, and he laid there for 100 years. The city was rebuilt seventy years after this, and its inhabitants increased and the Children of Israel moved back to it. When Allah resurrected Ezra after he died, his eyes and heart were resurrected first, so that he could witness what Allah does with him, how He brings life back to his body. The scholars said that since the man died in the early part of the day and Allah resurrected him in the latter part of the day, when he saw that the sun was still apparent, he thought that it was the sun of that very day.

The angel told him that he was in fact dead for 100 years. He had grapes, figs and juice, and he found them as he left them; they did not rot. So the angel continued saying look at your donkey. It's bones were on the ground, lifeless. So the angel, through Allah's power, brought it back to life. Each bone came together, each muscle, clothed in skin and hairs laid back into place.

As-Suddi said, "Ezra observed the bones of his donkey, which were scattered all around him to his right and left, and Allah sent a wind that collected the bones from all over the area. Allah then brought every bone to its place, until they formed a full donkey made of fleshless bones. Allah then covered these bones with flesh, nerves, veins and skin. Allah sent an angel who blew life in the donkeys' nostrils, and the donkey started to bray by Allah's leave." All this occurred while Ezra was watching, and this is when he proclaimed "I know (now) that Allah is able to do all things,"

When Ezra returned to his community, he did not recognise anyone, and no one recognised him. He went to his house and there found a lady 120 years old and now blind. She was one of his servants. He asked if this was the house of Ezra and then told her that he was Ezra, explaining what had happened. She was 20 when he had left, and described that Ezra hasn't been spoken about since his disappearance and that he was a man whose prayers Allah answered, who healed the sick through his prayer. So, she asked him if he was Ezra to pray for her eyesight and health to return.

Ezra prayed and after passing his hand over her eyes, Allah accepted his dua and her eyesight was returned. She realised it was really him. She began to call his sons, and their families. He spoke with them and proved his identity. He had previously memorised the Torah, and after Nabuchadnezzar burnt all their Torahs (as explained in previous prophet stories, when the Children of Israel were punished with hardship) Ezra wrote down the Torah, preserved in his memory and through Allah's power. This is why some of the Jews claimed he was the son of God as in the below verse.

The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah,” while the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” Such are their baseless assertions, only parroting the words of earlier disbelievers. May Allah condemn them! How can they be deluded ˹from the truth˺?9:30