Tafseer of The Clot · Al-Alaq · 96:7
Because he sees himself self-sufficient.
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.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The exposition of the explanation of His word — exalted is His praise and hallowed are His names —: اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ (١) خَلَقَ الإنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ (٢) اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الأكْرَمُ (٣) الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ (٤) عَلَّمَ الإنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (٥) كَلا إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَيَطْغَى (٦) أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنَى (٧) إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى (٨) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created (1). He created man from a clot of blood (2). Recite, and your Lord is the Most Noble (3), Who taught by means of the pen (4), Who taught man what he did not know (5). Nay, truly, man is indeed rebellious (6) when he deems himself self-sufficient (7). Truly, to your Lord is the return (8)) (96:1-8).
He — exalted is His praise — means by His word (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord) the Prophet ﷺ. He says: Recite, O Muḥammad, with the mention of your Lord, (الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Who created). Then He clarifies whom He created and says: (خَلَقَ الإنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ) (He created man from a clot of blood), that is: from blood. He said: min ʿalaq (from clots of blood), while thereby is meant: from a clot of blood (ʿalaqa), because He passed over to the plural, as one says: shajara (a tree) and shajar (trees), qaṣaba (a reed-stalk) and qaṣab (reeds), and likewise ʿalaqa (a clot of blood) and ʿalaq (clots of blood). He said only min ʿalaq (from clots of blood), while the word "man" (al-insān) stands in the singular form, because it carries the meaning of a plural, even though it stands in a singular form; therefore it was said: min ʿalaq (from clots of blood).
And His word: (اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الأكْرَمُ) (Recite, and your Lord is the Most Noble). He says: Recite, O Muḥammad, and your Lord is the Most Noble, (الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ) (Who taught by means of the pen), that is: His creation [He taught] writing and script.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created) — he read on until he reached (عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ) (Who taught by means of the pen) — he said: The pen is a tremendous favor from Allah; were it not for it, [the affair] would not hold together and life would not be in order. And it has been said: this is the first sūra of the Qurʾān that was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* The mention of who said that:
Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān al-Baṣrī related to me, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: I heard al-Nuʿmān ibn Rāshid say, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that she said: The first with which the revelation began for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the truthful dream; it would come like the breaking of dawn. Then seclusion was made beloved to him, and he used to be in the cave of Ḥirāʾ, where he devoted himself to the worship of God for a number of nights before returning to his family; then he would return to his family and provide himself with provisions for a similar [period], until the Truth suddenly came upon him. It came to him and said: O Muḥammad, you are the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah said: "Then I fell upon my knees while I was standing, then I returned while the muscles of my shoulders were trembling, and then I entered upon Khadīja and said: Wrap me up, wrap me up, until the terror departed from me. Then he came to me and said: O Muḥammad, I am Jibrīl and you are the Messenger of Allah. He said: Then I truly considered casting myself down from a steep height [of a mountain], but he appeared to me as I was considering that, and said: O Muḥammad, I am Jibrīl and you are the Messenger of Allah. Then he said: Recite. I said: What shall I recite? He said: Then he took me and squeezed me tightly three times, until exhaustion overcame me, and then he said: (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created). Then I recited. Then I went to Khadīja and said: I have feared for myself. And I gave her my account. She said: Rejoice, for by Allah, Allah will never disgrace you; and by Allah, you maintain the ties of kinship, you speak the truth, you return what is entrusted, you bear the burden [of the needy], you host the guest and you help in the adversities of the truth. Then she took me to Waraqa ibn Nawfal ibn Asad, and she said: Listen to [the son of] your brother's son. Then he questioned me [about it], and I gave him my account. He said: This is the Nāmūs (the angel of revelation) who was sent down upon Mūsā ﷺ. Oh, would that I were young [and strong] therein! Oh, would that I were alive when your people will drive you out! I said: Will they then drive me out? He said: Yes; never has a man come with that with which you have come, but that he was treated with enmity. And if your day reaches me, I will support you with mighty aid." Then the first that was sent down upon me of the Qurʾān after (اقرأ) (Recite) was: (ن وَالْقَلَمِ وَمَا يَسْطُرُونَ مَا أَنْتَ بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ بِمَجْنُونٍ وَإِنَّ لَكَ لأجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍ وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ فَسَتُبْصِرُ وَيُبْصِرُونَ) (Nūn. By the pen and by what they write down. By the grace of your Lord, you are not one possessed. And truly, for you there is an unending reward. And truly, you possess an exalted character. Soon you will see and they will see), and (يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ قُمْ فَأَنْذِرْ) (O you who are wrapped in a mantle, arise and warn), and (وَالضُّحَى وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى) (By the morning brightness and by the night when it grows still).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, saying: ʿUrwa related to me that ʿĀʾisha informed him — and he mentioned something similar, except that he did not say: "Then the first that was sent down upon me of the Qurʾān..." — to the end of the account.
Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Shaybānī related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād related to us, saying: Jibrīl came to Muḥammad and said: O Muḥammad, recite. He said: "And what shall I recite?" He said: Then he squeezed him tightly, and then said: O Muḥammad, recite. He said: "And what shall I recite?" He said: (بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (In the name of your Lord, Who created), until he reached (عَلَّمَ الإنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ) (He taught man what he did not know). He said: Then he came to Khadīja and said: "O Khadīja, I think nothing other than that something has befallen me." She said: No, by Allah, your Lord would not do such a thing to you, and you have never committed anything disgraceful. He said: Then Khadīja went to Waraqa and brought him the account. He said: If you speak the truth, then your husband is truly a prophet, and he will suffer greatly from his community; and if I live to witness him, I will surely believe in him. He said: Then Jibrīl stayed away from him for a time, whereupon Khadīja said to him: I think nothing other than that your Lord has forsaken you. Then Allah sent down: (وَالضُّحَى وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى) (By the morning brightness and by the night when it grows still, your Lord has not forsaken you nor has He [grown] hateful [toward you]).
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha — Ibrāhīm said: Sufyān said: Ibn Isḥāq preserved it for us in memory — that the first that was sent down of the Qurʾān was: (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created).
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Bishr ibn al-Ḥakam al-Nīsābūrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿUrwa, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that the first sūra that was sent down of the Qurʾān was (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord).
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, saying: The first sūra that was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created).
He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, saying: I heard ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr say — and he mentioned something similar.
Khallād ibn Aslam related to us, saying: al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl informed us, saying: Qurra related to us, saying: Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī informed us, saying: We were in the congregational mosque, and our reciter was Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī; it is as though I am still looking at him, clad in two white mantles. Abū Rajāʾ said: From him I took this sūra: (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created), and it was the first sūra that was sent down upon Muḥammad.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of one of his companions, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, saying: The first sūra that was sent down of the Qurʾān was (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, saying: The first that was sent down of the Qurʾān was: (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord). And Ibn Mahdī added: and (ن وَالْقَلَمِ) (Nūn. By the pen).
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, saying: I heard ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr say: The first that was sent down of the Qurʾān was (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created).
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Qurra ibn Khālid, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ al-ʿUṭāridī, saying: Truly, I look [in my memory] at Abū Mūsā while he recited the Qurʾān in the mosque of Basra, dressed in two white mantles; and from him I took (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created), and it is the first sūra that was sent down upon Muḥammad ﷺ.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, saying: Truly, the first sūra that was sent down was: (اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ) (Recite in the name of your Lord, Who created), then (ن وَالْقَلَمِ) (Nūn. By the pen).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
And His word: (عَلَّمَ الإنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ) (He taught man what he did not know). He — exalted is His mention — says: He taught man writing by means of the pen, while he did not know it, besides other matters than that, which He taught him and which he did not know.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have [also] said.
* The mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: (عَلَّمَ الإنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ) (He taught man what he did not know), he said: He taught man writing by means of the pen.
And His word: (كَلا) (Nay). He — exalted is His mention — says: It does not befit man to be thus: that his Lord favors him by perfecting his creation, teaching him what he did not know and favoring him with that which has no equal, and that he then is ungrateful toward his Lord Who did that to him, and behaves rebelliously against Him when he deems himself self-sufficient.
And His word: (إِنَّ الإنْسَانَ لَيَطْغَى أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنَى) (Truly, man is indeed rebellious when he deems himself self-sufficient). He says: Truly, man transgresses his limits and is arrogant toward his Lord, so that he becomes ungrateful toward Him, because he considers himself self-sufficient. And it has been said: [in the expression] an raʾāhu istaghnā (when he deems himself self-sufficient) the verb raʾā ("to see/deem") requires a [grammatical] subject (ism) and a predicate (khabar). Thus do the Arabs act with every verb that requires a subject and a [second] complement: when the one giving an account about himself makes the [verb] refer back to himself with a pronoun that refers to himself, then he says: matā tarāka khārijan? (when do you deem yourself about to depart?) and matā taḥsubuka sāʾiran? (when do you suppose yourself to be traveling?). But when the verb requires only a single direct object (manṣūb), then they place in the position of the [referring] pronoun the word nafs ("self"), and they say: qatalta nafsaka (you have killed yourself), and they do not say: qataltaka (you have killed you), nor qataltahu (you have killed him).
And His word: (إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى) (Truly, to your Lord is the return). He says: Truly, to your Lord, O Muḥammad, is his return; and then he will taste of
