الم
Alif. Lām. Mīm. (1)
تَنْزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ issues, beyond any doubt, from the Sustainer of all the worlds: (2)
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ بَلْ هُوَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَا أَتَاهُمْ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ
and yet, they [who are bent on denying the truth] assert, "[Muhammad] has invented it!" Nay, but it is the truth from thy Sustainer, enabling thee to warn [this] people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might follow the right path. (3)
اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا شَفِيعٍ أَفَلَا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ
IT IS GOD who has created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness. You have none to protect you from God, and none to intercede for you [on Judgment Day]: will you not, then, bethink yourselves? (4)
يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ
He governs all that exists, from the celestial space to the earth; and in the end all shall ascend unto Him [for judgment] on a Day the length whereof will be [like] a thousand years of your reckoning. (5)
ذَٰلِكَ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ
Such is He who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind: the Almighty, the Dispenser of Grace, (6)
الَّذِي أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنْسَانِ مِنْ طِينٍ
who makes most excellent everything that He creates. Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay; (7)
ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ مَهِينٍ
then He causes him to be begotten out of the essence of a humble fluid; (8)
ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِهِ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ قَلِيلًا مَا تَشْكُرُونَ
and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit: and [thus, O men,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds: [yet] how seldom are you grateful! (9)
وَقَالُوا أَإِذَا ضَلَلْنَا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَإِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ بَلْ هُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ كَافِرُونَ
For [many are] they [who] say, "What! After we have been [dead and] lost in the earth, shall we indeed be [restored to life] in a new act of creation?" Nay, but [by saying this] they deny the truth that they are destined to meet their Sustainer! (10)
قُلْ يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ
Say: "[One day,] the angel of death who has been given charge of you will gather you, and then unto your Sustainer you will be brought back." (11)
- who makes most excellent everything that He creates.6 Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay;7
- 6 I.e., He fashions every detail of His creation in accordance with the functions intended for it, irrespective of whether those functions can be understood by us or are beyond the reach of our perception. In the text, the passage comprising verses 7-9 is in the past tense; but since it relates to a continuous act of creation, it signifies the present and the future as well as the past, and may, therefore, be suitably rendered in the present tense.
- 7 Cf. note 4 on 23:12. In view of the next verse, this "beginning" of man's creation seems to allude to the basic composition of the human body as such, as well as to each individual's pre-natal existence in the separate bodies of his parents.
- He Who has made everything which He has created3636 most good: He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay,3637
- 3636 Allah's creation in itself is good; it is beautiful in proper proportions, and adapted for the functions it has to perform. There is no evil or disorder in it. Such evil or disorder as creeps in is due to man's will (as far as the world of man is concerned), and spiritual Teaching is directed to train and cure that will and bring it into conformity with the Universal Order and Plan.
- 3637 Man is asked to contemplate his own humble beginning. His material body (apart from life) is a piece of earth or clay, which is another term for primeval matter. Matter is therefore the first stage, but even matter was not self-created. It was created by Allah.
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He Who has made everything which He has created most good: He began the creation of man with (nothing more than) clay,
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Who made all things good which He created, and He began the creation of man from clay;
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Who made good everything that He has created, and He began the creation of man from dust.
— M. Habib Shakir -
Who made everything He has created good, and He began the creation of man from clay.
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Who hath made everything exceeding good which He hath created. And He originated the creation of man from clay;
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
who perfected everything He created. He originated the creation of the human from clay,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
who made everything that He created handsome, and began the creation of man out of clay.
— Ayub Khan -
Who has made perfect everything He has created. And He began the creation of man from clay;
— Sher Ali -
who makes most excellent everything that He creates.
Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay;
— Muhammad Asad -
who has created all things well. And He originated the creation of man out of clay,
— Arthur Arberry -
He Who excelled in the creation of all that He created.{{13}} He originated the creation of man from clay,
— Abu'l Ala Maududi