Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:26
And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah, exalted be His praise, says: We indeed created Adam — and that is the human being — from ṣalṣāl (صَلصَال). The people of interpretation have differed concerning the meaning of al-ṣalṣāl. Some said: it is dried clay that the fire has not touched; when you knock upon it, it makes a ringing sound (ṣalṣala).
Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Adam was created from ṣalṣāl, from ḥamaʾ (ḥamaʾ), and from sticky clay (ṭīn lāzib). The lāzib is the good, cohesive clay; the ḥamaʾ is the muddy pool; and the ṣalṣāl is the finely-rolled earth. And he was named "human being" (insān) because a covenant was made with him and he forgot it (nasiya).
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ : he said: al-ṣalṣāl is dry earth that makes a ringing sound.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: al-ṣalṣāl is dry clay that makes a ringing sound.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ : he said: al-ṣalṣāl is water that falls upon fertile earth, then recedes from it, so that the earth cracks and comes to resemble fine pottery.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the human being was created from three things: from sticky clay (ṭīn lāzib), from ṣalṣāl, and from stinking ḥamaʾ. The ṭīn lāzib is the good, adhesive clay; the ṣalṣāl is the finely-rolled clay from which pottery is made; the masnūn is clay mixed with ḥamaʾ-mud.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: it is dry earth that is moistened after its dryness.
Al-Mathnā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: al-ṣalṣāl is that which rings — resembling pottery — of good clay.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: al-ṣalṣāl is hard clay mixed with sand.
Al-Mathnā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibil related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ : he said: dry earth.
Others said: al-ṣalṣāl means the stinking. It appears that they derived this from the expression ṣalla al-laḥm wa-aṣalla, when meat stinks — this is said in both linguistic forms: yafʿalu and afʿala.
Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Mathnā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ : al-ṣalṣāl is the stinking.
The preferred view in the interpretation of this verse is that al-ṣalṣāl in this place is the sound-making, derived from the ringing (al-ṣalṣala). This is because Allah, the Exalted, describes it elsewhere and says: خَلَقَ الإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ — and Allah, exalted be His praise, compares it to pottery in its dryness. Had its meaning been "the stinking," He would not have compared it to pottery, for pottery is not stinking that one would compare something else to it in its stench.
As for His word مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : al-ḥamaʾ is the plural of ḥamʾa, and that is clay whose color has turned toward black. And His word مَسْنُونٍ means: it changed.
The scholars of the Arabic language have differed concerning the meaning of مَسْنُونٍ . Some of the Baṣran grammarians said: by it is meant: formed, completed ḥamaʾ. It has been related from the Arabs that they said: sanna ʿalā mithāl sunnati al-wajh, that is: its form. He said: and it is as if sunnatu al-shayʾ comes from this, that is: the model upon which it is formed. He said: and it is not derived from āsin, "it changed," because that is from sanana with doubling.
Another of them said: it is the poured-out ḥamaʾ. He said: al-maṣbūb — the poured-out — is al-masnūn; and it comes from their expression: sanantu al-māʾ ʿalā al-wajh wa-ghayrihi when one pours it out.
Some of the Kufans said: it is the changed. He said: as if it is derived from sanantu al-ḥajar ʿalā al-ḥajar — when one rubs one stone against another. One says: sanantuhu asunnuhu sannan fa-huwa masnūn. He said: and what comes out from between the two stones is called sanīn, and that is stinking. And he said: from this also is derived the name al-misann (whetstone), because iron is sharpened upon it (yuṣannu). The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl), however, said in this matter in accordance with what we have said.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿUbaydallāh ibn Yūsuf al-Jubayrī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr related to us, saying: Muslim related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: al-ḥamaʾ is the stinking.
Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: that which has already stunk.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: stinking.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: it is wet, stinking earth, which was made into ṣalṣāl like pottery.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us; and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Shibil related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: stinking.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — similar to it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : al-ḥamaʾ al-masnūn is that which has changed and stunk.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: it has stunk, he said: stinking.
Al-Mathnā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Juwaybar, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: from sticky clay (ṭīn lāzib), and that is the adhesive clay of a sand dune.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he said: the stinking ḥamaʾ.
Others of them said concerning this: it is wet clay.
Mention of those who said this:
Al-Mathnā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ : he says: from wet clay.
