Imam says Allah the Glorified said,
“Have you not considered those who went forth from their homes, for fear of death, and they were thousands, then Allah said to them, Die; again He gave them life; most surely Allah is Gracious to people, but most people are not grateful.” (2:243)1
According to another tradition, Imam al-Baqir and Imam as-Sadiq have narrated this when the people asked the explanation of the above Ayat. They described as follows: The people of The Israelites lived in a town of Syria. The population of the city was about 70,000. Once a plague started in the city. At once, the rich people left the city and went to another place to save themselves from death but the poor stayed there. As the epidemic spread and people started dying those people started thinking that if they had left the city they too would have been saved. After that, they decided that the next time there was an epidemic they would not stay in the city. When they were struck again by the epidemic they all left their houses and went to another city. The houses of that city were vacant because the people of that city had also died by an epidemic. Their dead bodies were annihilated except their bones. The people of The Israelites settled in the empty houses. Again by the order of Almighty they all died. Many years passed. Once a caravan passed by the way where the bones were scattered. They saw the bones lying on the way. They collected the bones, kept them aside, and cleared the way for the passers-by.
Hizqil passed this way. When he saw the human bones lying in a bad condition he grieved and wept much. He raised his hand to Allah and prayed: O Allah! Make them alive again in the same way as you have taken away their lives so that the city can again be prosperous and they can increase the number of your followers and true believers. Allah was pleased with him and asked, “O Prophet! Do you want me to make them alive?” The Prophet replied, “Yes, My Lord.” Then Allah answered his prayer and Hizqil saw the scattered bones regaining their original form until the parts of their bodies came to their original form and they were alive. They met each other, thanked Allah, performed prayers and thanked Allah again and again. Seeing this the Prophet said “I witness that Allah is one and Almighty.”