Tafseer of The Believers · Al-Muminoon · 23:12
And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay.
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.
He, exalted be His remembrance, says: وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَانَ مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِينٍ (and indeed, We created man from an extract, from clay) — We drew him forth from it; the sulāla is what is drawn out from every kind of earth, and that is why Ādam was created from earth that was taken from the surface of the earth.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke — albeit with a difference among themselves over who is meant by "man" in this verse. Some said: what is meant is Ādam.
*Mention of who said this:*
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: مِنْ طِينٍ (from clay) — he said: Ādam was drawn out from clay.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِينٍ — he said: Ādam was drawn out from clay, and his progeny was created from a paltry water.
Others said: rather, the meaning is: and indeed, We created the child of Ādam — and that is the man mentioned in this verse — from an extract, namely the semen that is drawn out from the loins of the man, from clay — and that is Ādam, who was created from clay.
*Mention of who said this:*
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: مِنْ سُلالَةٍ مِنْ طِينٍ — he said: the pure part of the water.
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 — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning Allah's word: مِنْ سُلالَةٍ — from the semen of Ādam.
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 — likewise.
The most correct of the two statements is the statement of the one who says: the meaning is: and indeed, We created the son of Ādam from an extract of Ādam — and that is a description of his semen — and Ādam is the clay, for he was created from it.
We said that this is the most correct of the two interpretations of the verse because of the proof of His word: ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَكِينٍ (then We placed him as a drop of semen in a secure resting place) — for it is well known that he came to be in a secure resting place only after he had been created in the loins of the father, and after he had passed from the loins into a secure resting place. The Arabs call a man's child and his semen his "salīl" and "sulāla," for both are drawn out (maslūlān) from him. Of the sulāla is the saying of one of the poets:
*She bore him — a man with a rugged face, a lion — the extract of a sheath that was not well kept.*
And the saying of another poet:
*Am I then but an Arab mare's foal — the extract of horses, mounted by a mule?*
Whoever says: sulāla — its plural is sulālāt, and sometimes they form the plural as salāʾil, though that is not frequent; for salāʾil is the plural of salīl. Of this is the saying of someone:
*When their riding she-camels foal, they resemble one another in their gait, except for the nose — their salāʾil.*
And the saying of the rajaz-poet:
*They cast in their veils the salāʾil.*