. al-Hijr, Late Meccan
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلَقَدْ
خَلَقْنَا
الإِنسَانَ
مِن صَلْصَالٍ
مِّنْ حَمَإٍ
مَّسْنُونٍ ﴿٢٦﴾
15:26. We created man from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape;
C1966. Salsal.- dry clay which produces a sound, like pottery. Cf. 55:14.
Taking verses 26 and 29 together, I understand the meaning to be:
- that man's body was formed from wet clay molded into shape and then dried until it could emit sound;
- that it was then further fashioned and completed;
- that into the animal form thus fashioned was breathed the spirit from Allah, which gave it a superiority over other Creation: and
- that the order for obeisance was then given.
وَالْجَآنَّ
خَلَقْنَاهُ
مِن قَبْلُ مِن
نَّارِ السَّمُومِ ﴿٢٧﴾
15:27. And the Jinn race, We had created before, from the fire of a scorching wind.
C1967. Cf. 6:100 and .
Hidden or invisible forces are aptly typified as arising "from the fire of scorching winds."
وَإِذْ
قَالَ رَبُّكَ
لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ
إِنِّي خَالِقٌ
بَشَرًا مِّن
صَلْصَالٍ مِّنْ
حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ ﴿٢٨﴾
15: 28. Behold! thy Lord said to the angels:
"I am about to create man, from sounding clay, from mud molded into shape;
فَإِذَا
سَوَّيْتُهُ
وَنَفَخْتُ
فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي
فَقَعُواْ لَهُ
سَاجِدِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾
15:29. "When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him."
C1968. Among other passages where the creation of Adam is referred to, cf. the following;
Note that here the emphasis is on three points:
1. the breathing from Allah's spirit into man i.e., the faculty of God-like knowledge and will, which, if rightly used, would give man superiority over other creatures:
2. the origin of evil in arrogance and jealousy on the part of Satan, who saw only the lower side of man (his clay) and failed to see the higher side, the faculty brought in from the spirit of Allah;
3. that this evil only touches those who yield to it, and has no power over Allah's sincere servants, purified by His grace (15:40, 42).
Adam is not here mentioned by name, but only Man, whose symbol is Adam.
فَسَجَدَ
الْمَلآئِكَةُ
كُلُّهُمْ
أَجْمَعُونَ ﴿٣٠﴾
15:30. So the angels prostrated themselves all of them together:
15:31. Not so
C1969. Cf. n. 49 to 2:34.
... إِبْلِيسَ...
Iblis:
C1970. lblis: the name has in it the root-idea of desperateness or rebellion.
Cf. n. 52 to 2:36.
...أَبَى أَن يَكُونَ مَعَ السَّاجِدِينَ ﴿٣١﴾
he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.
C1971. Apparently Iblis's arrogance had two grounds:
- that man was made of clay while he was made of fire;
- that he did not wish to do what others did.
Both grounds were false;
- because man had the spirit of Allah breathed into him;
- because contempt of the angels who obeyed Allah's words showed not Iblis's superiority but his inferiority.
The word "bashar" for man (verse 33) suggests a gross physical body.
Asad’s Version:
15:26 (26) AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted 24 –
(15:27) whereas the invisible beings We had created, [long] before that, out of the fire of scorching winds. 25
(15:28) And lo! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to create mortal man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted;
(15:29) and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!" 26
(15:30) Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together,
(15:31) save Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. 27
[[ Asad’s notes –
24 Lhere are many references in the Qur'an to man's having been "created out of clay (tin)" or "out of dust (turab)", both these terms signifying man's lowly biological origins as well as the fact that liis body is composed of various organic and inorganic substances existing - in other combinations or in their elementary forms - on or in the earth. The tenn salsal, occurring in three verses of this surah as well as in 55:14, adds a further dimension to this concept. According to most of the philological
authorities, it denotes "dried clay that emits a sound" (i.e., when it is struck); and since it is used in the Qur'an exclusively with reference to the creation of man, it seems to contain an allusion to the power of articulate speech which distinguishes man from all other animal species, as well as to the brittleness of his existence (cf the expression "like pottery" in 55:14). As the construction of the sentence shows, this salsal is stated to have evolved (Razi) out of hama' - which, according to some authorities, is the plural of ham'ah, signifying "dark, fetid mud" or "dark slime" - while the participial adjective masnun which qualifies this noun denotes, as Razi points out, both "altered" (i.e., in its composition) and "brought into shape": hence my rendering of this expression as "transmuted", which to some extent combines both of the above meanings. To my mind, we have here a description of the primeval biological environment out of which the "sounding clay" - the matrix, as it were - of man's physical body has evolved in acccordance with God's plan of creation.
25 Cf. 55:15 - "out of the confusing flame of fire (marij min nar)": i.e., of non-corporeal elements. The noun al-jann, rendered by me as "the invisible beings", is in reality a singular, denoting here the kind of these particular beings or forces, similar to the use of the singular noun "man" (al- insan) which describes the collective entity "mankind". The etymology of the word jdnn (the plural of which
is jinn) has been briefly touched upon in note 86 on 6: 100; a more detailed discussion of its meaning is found in Appendix III.
26 Cf. 2 : 30-34 and the corresponding notes, as well as 7:1 1-18. The allegorical character of all the passages bearing on the creation of man and on God's command to the angels to prostrate themselves before him is brought out clearly in God's saying, "I am about to create mortal man... ; and when I have formed him fully...", etc.: for it is obvious that, in reality, no lapse of time is required for God's completing His creation - since, "when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, 'Be'- and it is" (cf. 2:117, 3:47 and 59, 6:73, 16:40, 19: 35, 36:82 and 40: 68). God's "breathing of His spirit" into man is obviously a metaphor for His endowing him with life and consciousness: that is, with a soul.
27 See note 10 on 7:1 1. For the deeper meaning of this "rebellion", see note 31 below. ]]