Surah Ar-Room (30) — Ayah 20

(Ayah 20) ➊ {وَ مِنْ اٰيٰتِهٖۤ …:} From here for six verses, there is mention of such signs, that is, strange and wondrous things, which, firstly, according to the previous context, are evidence that Allah is capable of resurrecting people after death, taking their account, and giving them reward and punishment. Secondly, they are evidence that this universe was neither self-created, nor is it running by itself, nor was it made by more than one being; rather, Allah alone created it, He alone is running it, and in this workshop of existence, He has no partner. All six of these verses begin with the words {’’ وَ مِنْ اٰيٰتِهٖۤ ‘‘}. This means that these are some of Allah’s signs and wonders of His power; all the signs cannot be counted, but for understanding and believing, these signs are sufficient.

➋ The tanween on { اَنْ خَلَقَكُمْ مِّنْ تُرَابٍ …: ’’ تُرَابٍ ‘‘} is for reduction and belittlement, so it has been translated as “insignificant clay.” Among His signs, the first mentioned is the creation of man, because man knows himself more than anything else, and reflecting on his own existence is easier than reflecting on anything else. {’’ اَنْ خَلَقَكُمْ مِّنْ تُرَابٍ ‘‘} can have two meanings: one is that creating you from insignificant clay means that He created your father Adam from insignificant clay. The word {’’ ثُمَّ ‘‘} (“then”) means that He did not leave him alone after creating him, but initiated such a magnificent process of procreation through the union of sperm and egg that you, in the form of mankind, are spreading all over the earth, and this process has been ongoing for hundreds of thousands of years. The word {’’ اِذَاۤ ‘‘} (“suddenly”) usually comes after “fa,” but here it comes after {’’ ثُمَّ ‘‘}, which contains the meaning of delay. This also hints at the delay and the stages that occur during the creation of Adam from clay and the subsequent coming into existence of humans, such as sperm, clot, and lump of flesh, etc.

The second meaning is that “He created you from insignificant clay” means that He created all of you from insignificant clay, that is, it is a sign of Allah’s power that He created all humans from clay, which is dead, in which there is no sign of life. The temperament of “clay” is cold and dry, it is devoid of heat and also of moisture, from which life comes into being. Your existence and the existence of all those things on which your life depends are established from this lifeless clay. Because the creation of man is from sperm, which is obviously formed from food, and food is made from plants or from the meat, milk, and ghee of animals, and the life of those animals also depends on plants or such things that grow from the earth. In short, your existence is from that dead clay, after passing through the stages of creation, you suddenly spread on the earth in the form of mankind. “Suddenly” is mentioned because all the stages of creation are hidden from people’s eyes; after all the stages are completed, the appearance of a child from the mother’s womb or a chick from the egg happens suddenly. For these stages, see Surah Hajj (5) and Surah Mu’minun (12, 13).

➌ { تَنْتَشِرُوْنَ :} That is, after creating you from lifeless clay, He granted you such a full life that you spread throughout the earth. You built palaces, forts, settlements, and cities; through travel by land, sea, and air, you explored every corner of the earth. Whether you look in cities or deserts, in forests or on mountain peaks, or in the vastness of the seas, everywhere the existence of man will be seen. All this is the marvel of the power of the One without partner.