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khalaqa l-ʾinsāna min ṣalṣālin ka-l-fakhkhāri
He created man out of dry clay, like the potter’s,
— Ali Quli Qarai
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 14 of 78
The Beneficent55. Ar-Raḥmānالرحمن
al-Raḥmān
The All-beneficent
MedinanVerse 14 of 78
55Ar-RaḥmānالرحمنVerse 14 of 78
The All-beneficent
He created man out of dry clay, like the potter’s,
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Rahman - Verses 14-16
14. He created man from dry clay like the clay of pottery.
15. And the jinn: He created from smokeless flames of fire.
16. Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?
The Arabic word salsal denotes "dry clay, argillaceous earth." Fakhkhar designates
"pottery clay."
Marij indicates
"flame."
Following an enumeration of His Blessings, including making mention of the creation of man in passing, the blessed Verses in question (14-16) make an account of the creation of jinn and man. It serves as a telling token of His Omnipotence and also provides everyone with lessons, saying:
"He created man from dry clay like clay of pottery."
The word salsal denotes dry, rattling clay. The word fakhkhar is applied to any kind of pottery which rattles upon being touched. Different Qur’anic Verses and expressions regarding the source of human creation clearly reflect that man used to be earth in the beginning:
("O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, they indeed We have created you from dust, then from semen, then from a clot that We may make it clear to you. And We cause whom We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed term, then We bring you out as infants, then that you may reach your age of full strength. And among you there is he who dies and among you there is he who is brought back to the miserable old age, so that he knows nothing after having known. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water on it, it is stirred and it swells and puts forth every beauteous kind of growth," 12 )
Then it is mingled with water and turns into clay:
("He it is Who created you from clay and then decreed a term and there is with Him another appointed term yet you doubt," 13 );
("And when your Lord said unto angels: 'I am going to create man from dried rattling clay of foul smelling mud," 14 )
Then it became sticky
("Then ask them: 'Are they stronger as creation or those whom We created?' Indeed, We created them of a sticky clay," 15 ).
Later on it dried up and became rattling pottery clay as mentioned in the blessed Verse in question. How long did these stages take? How long did man stop at each of these stages? What were the factors leading to these transitional states? Our knowledge fails to uncover such secrets as the knowledge thereof rests with God Almighty alone. What is certain is that such expressions serve as telling tokens of a reality which is significantly linked to educational issues of mankind – the primeval mass forming human body was the most unworthy and the lowliest of all matters to be found on the earth, but God Almighty created such worthy creature out of such unworthy matter such that man became the noblest of His creatures.
It is also worthy of note that the true value of human being is the Divine Spirit as it is reflected in Qur’anic Verses:
("Therefore, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him the soul which I created for him, then fall down prostrating yourselves unto him," 16 ).
Thus, man may find his path towards perfection through the recognition of this truth such that he may know which way he is supposed to tread to find his true value in the world of existence. The blessed Verse 15 treats of the creation of jinn, saying:
"And the jinn: He created from smokeless flames of fire."
The Arabic word marij is cognate with maraj ("mingling, mixture") which herein connotes different flames of fire, since blazing fire appears in different colors, red, yellow, blue, and white. It is not known either how jinn were created from such colorful flames of fire. Likewise, other characteristics of jinn are known to us by the True Dawn, namely the Glorious Qur’an, Divine Revelation. Our limited knowledge may never allow us to deny nor to ignore such truths, as they are proven through Divine Revelation, though they defy our knowledge. It is worthy of note that most of the creatures known to us were created out of water, earth, wind, and fire.
The source of human creation was water and earth but that of jinn is wind and fire, even if, like ancients, we regard them simple and element or like modern scientists who regard them to be composite, made up from different constituent elements. Such duality in the origins of creation causes many differences between the twain. The blessed Verse 16 follows the enumeration of the Blessings one of which was the creation of man. It reiterates the rhetorical question:
"Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both [jinn and men] deny?"
Footnotes