al-Ḥayāt is interpreted in six ways:
1. al-Ḥayāt is used in the sense of the life given after the first creation and the breathing of the spirit (rūḥ); as in the following verses:
You were dead (amwāt) and He gave you life {that is, He created you as drops of fluid and gave you spirits}. (al-Baqara 2:28)
You gave us life twice {that is, You gave us life twice—the first life is when You shaped us in the wombs and breathed the spirit (rūḥ) into us}. (al-Muʾmin 40:11)
You bring forth the living (ḥayy) from the dead {that is, the living from the drop of fluid}. (Āl ʿImrān 3:27)
It is He who gave you life {that is, He created you and gave you spirits}. (al-Ḥajj 22:66)
Say: "It is Allah who gives you life" {that is, He is the one who initiates creation, meaning He created you}. (al-Jāthiya 45:26)
2. With al-Ḥayy [the living], the believer (muʾmin) is described; as in the following verses:
To warn the living {that is, the believer who is upon hudā (guidance) in Allah's knowledge}. (Yā-Sīn 36:70)
Is one who was dead [mayyit: disbeliever] and We gave him life {that is, We granted him iman (faith) and hudā (guidance)}... (al-Anʿām 6:122)
The living {that is, the believers} and the dead {that is, the disbelievers} are not equal. (Fāṭir 35:22)
3. al-Ḥayāt is used in the sense of baqāʾ (subsistence, permanence); as in the following verses:
O people of reason! In legal retribution (qiṣāṣ) there is life {that is, baqāʾ/permanence} for you. (al-Baqara 2:179)
And whoever saves a life, it is as if he had saved all mankind. (al-Māʾida 5:32)
They were leaving your women alive {that is, by not killing your women / by letting them live, they were making them permanent}. (al-Baqara 2:49)
There are similar examples in Sūrat al-Aʿrāf and Sūrat Ibrāhīm.
4. With al-Ḥayāt, the reviving of the earth by vegetation is meant; as in the following verse:
He raises the clouds, then drives them to a dead land {that is, a land without vegetation}; then by it He gives life to the earth after its death {that is, He revives the soil by causing various kinds of plants to grow}. (Fāṭir 35:9)
The earth's coming to life/reviving is the sprouting of plants.
There are similar examples in Sūrat Yā-Sīn and other surahs.
5. al-Ḥayāt is used in the sense of a life given as a sign before the Day of Resurrection, without leaving any provision or effect in this world; this type of life is mentioned in the following verse:
I give life to the dead by Allah's permission / I resurrect the dead. (Āl ʿImrān 3:49)
Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus), by Allah's permission, would resurrect the dead among the Children of Israel as a sign so that they would affirm him. In this context, he resurrected Sām b. Nūḥ, who spoke with people, then died and returned to his former state.
There is a similar example in Sūrat al-Māʾida.
6. With al-Ḥayāt, the life on the Day of Resurrection is meant, after which there is no death; as in the following verses:
Peace be upon him (Yahya) the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be raised alive (ḥayy, that is, alive after death) {that is, on the Day of Resurrection}. (Maryam 19:15)
(ʿĪsā said): "Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I will die, and the day I will be raised alive (ḥayy, that is, alive after death) (that is, on the Day of Resurrection)." (Maryam 19:33)
Is not He able to give life to the dead (maytā) (on the Day of Resurrection)? (al-Qiyāma 75:40)
There are many similar verses.