15. Surah Al Hijr

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.

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;

2:30-39; 7:11-25.

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.

Other Versions:

15: 26

Asad And, indeed We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted-

Pickthall Verily We created man of potter's clay of black mud altered,

Transliteration Wa laqad khalaqnal insa_na min salsa_lim min hama'im masnu_n(in).

Yuksel’s version Creation of Humans

15:26 We have created the human being from hardened clay of aged mud.*

[Asad note 24: There are many references in the Quran 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 his body is composed of various organic and inorganic substances existing – in other combination or in their elementary forms – on or in the earth. The term “salsal, occurring in three verses of this surah as well as in 55:14, adds a further dimension to this concept. Accordin 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 Quran 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…………………….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 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 accordance with God’s plan of creation.)

[Ruby’s note: Asad’s explanation seems much better than that of Ali’s. Association of potter’s clay or sounding clay seems to refer a type of clay which is sticky, and not that God has created a human like a pottery and then breathed into it His spirit as Ali suggests.]

15: 28

Asad 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;

Pickthall And (remember) when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am creating a mortal out of potter's clay of black mud altered.

Transliteration Wa iz qa_la rabbuka lil mala_'ikati inni kha_liqum basyaram min salsa_lim min hama'im masnu_n(in).

15: 29

Asad and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!”

Pickthall So, when I have made him and have breathed into him of My spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him.

Transliteration Fa iza-stawaituhu_ wa nafakhtu fihi mir ru_hi fa qa'u_ lahu_ sa_jidin(a).

[ Asad’s note 26: Cf. 2:30-34 and the corresponding ntoes, as well as 7:11-18. 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…………. ]