Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:2
It is He who created you from clay and then decreed a term and a specified time [known] to Him; then [still] you are in dispute.
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.
The explanation of His word: هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ ("He it is who created you from clay" (6:2))
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "He it is who created you from clay": that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, and darkened its night and illuminated its day, and to whom the disbelievers thereafter showed disbelief despite His favor toward them, and to whom they equated others who neither benefit them nor harm them — He it is who created you, O people, from clay. He — exalted be His mention — means by that only: that mankind are the descendants of the one whom He created from clay; and He gave this the form of an address to them, because they were his descendants.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
13049 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "He it is who created you from clay": [this refers to] the beginning of creation; Allah created Ādam from clay.
13050 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He it is who created you from clay": he said: it is Ādam.
13051 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for "who created you from clay": that is Ādam.
13052 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, he said: He created Ādam from clay, and He created mankind from an extract of base water.
13053 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "who created you from clay": he said: He created Ādam from clay, and then He created us from Ādam, when He took us out of his back.
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The explanation of His word: ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلا وَأَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى عِنْدَهُ ("Then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him" (6:2))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning its explanation.
Some of them said: the meaning of His word "then He decreed a term" is: then He decreed for you, O people, "a term." And that is [the time] between when one is created until the time one dies = "and a fixed term is with Him": and that is [the time] between when one dies until the time one is resurrected.
* Mention of who said that:
13054 — Ibn Wakīʿ and Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, both saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word "He decreed a term": he said: [that is the time] between when one is created until the time one dies = "and a fixed term is with Him": he said: [that is the time] between when one dies until the time one is resurrected.
13055 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": he used to say: the term of your life until you die, and the term of your death until you are resurrected. Thus you find yourself between two terms of Allah — exalted be His mention.
13056 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim: "He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": he said: He decreed the term of death, and every soul has death as its term. He said: and Allah will not delay any soul when its term has come = "and a fixed term is with Him": he means: the term of the Hour, the passing away of the world, and the transition to Allah.
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Others said: no, the meaning of that is: then He decreed the worldly life, and with Him is the hereafter.
* Mention of who said that:
13057 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "a term": he said: the worldly life = "and a fixed term is with Him": the hereafter.
13058 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He decreed a term": he said: the hereafter is with Him = "and a fixed term": the worldly life.
13059 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "a term": he said: the hereafter is with Him = "and a fixed term": he said: the worldly life.
13060 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "a term": he said: the hereafter is with Him = "and a fixed term": he said: the worldly life.
13061 — 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 and al-Ḥasan: "then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": both said: He decreed the term of the worldly life, from the moment He created you until you die = "and a fixed term is with Him": the Day of Resurrection.
13062 — Hannād related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿIkrima: "then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": he said: He decreed the term of the worldly life = "and a fixed term is with Him": he said: it is the term of the resurrection.
13063 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿIkrima: "then He decreed a term": he said: death = "and a fixed term is with Him": the hereafter.
13064 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan, concerning His word "He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": both said: He decreed the term of the worldly life, from the day you were created until you die = "and a fixed term is with Him": the Day of Resurrection.
13065 — Ibn Wakīʿ and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, both saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He decreed a term": he said: the term of the worldly life = "and a fixed term is with Him": he said: the resurrection.
13066 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": he means: the term of death = "and the fixed term": the term of the Hour and the standing before Allah.
13067 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "He decreed a term": he said: as for "He decreed a term": that is the term of death = "and a fixed term is with Him": the Day of Resurrection.
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And others said concerning this what [now follows]:
13068 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related this to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him": he said: as for His word "He decreed a term": that is sleep, in which the soul is taken away and then returns to its owner upon awakening = "and a fixed term is with Him": that is the term of the death of the human being.
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And others said what [now follows]:
13069 — Yūnus related this to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, concerning His word "He it is who created you from clay, then He decreed a term, and a fixed term is with Him, and yet you doubt": he said: He created Ādam from clay, then He created us from Ādam — He took us out of his back — then He set the term and the covenant at one fixed term in this worldly life.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and the statement which, in my view, is the most correct concerning this, is the statement of him who said: its meaning is: then He decreed the term of the worldly life = "and a fixed term is with Him": and that, with Him, is the term of the resurrection.
We have called this the most correct only because He — exalted be His mention — pointed His creatures to the place of His proof against them, [drawn] from themselves, and said to them: O people, indeed, the One to whom you disbelievers equate gods and partners, He it is who created you, originated you, and brought you into existence from clay, and made you into forms, living bodies, after you were clay, lifeless dust; then He decreed the terms of your lives, until you perish and you die, to return you [again] to dust and clay, as you were before He brought you into existence and created you = and a fixed term is with Him for your return as living beings and bodies, as you were before your death. And that is similar to His word: كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنْتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ("How can you disbelieve in Allah, while you were dead and He then brought you to life; then He causes you to die, then He brings you [again] to life, then to Him you are returned") [Surah Al-Baqarah: 28].
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The explanation of His word: ثُمَّ أَنْتُمْ تَمْتَرُونَ (2) ("and yet you doubt" (6:2))
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — says: and yet you doubt the ability of the One who was able to create the heavens and the earth, to darken the night and illuminate the day, and to create you from clay until He made you into the form in which you exist — [you doubt] His ability to bring you into existence after your death and perishing, and to cause you to exist after your nonexistence.
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And "al-mirya" means in the language of the Arabs: doubt. That I have already set forth with its evidences elsewhere, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.
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And it has already [been transmitted]:
13070 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "and yet you doubt": he said: doubt. He said: and he recited the word of Allah: فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِنْهُ [Surah Hūd: 17], he said: in doubt about it.
13071 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and yet you doubt": with the like of that.
