as an open book, and he will be told: ﴿Read your record. Today your own self is sufficient to hold you to account﴾ [al-Isrā’: 14]. These guardians record everything a person says and does, whether outward—such as the words uttered by the tongue and the deeds performed by the limbs—or inward. Even the beliefs held in the heart are recorded in his account, for Allah Most High says: ﴿Indeed, We created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein. When the two receivers receive, seated on his right and on his left, he utters no word without a vigilant observer ready beside him﴾ [Qāf: 16–18]. This guardian keeps account of the deeds of the children of Adam. There are also other guardians whom Allah mentions in His words: ﴿He has successive guardians before him and behind him, protecting him by Allah’s command﴾ [al-Ra‘d: 11].

﴿So let man consider from what he was created.﴾ The lām here expresses a command. What is meant by considering here is reflection and contemplation with insight. That is, let man think: From what was he created? Was he created from iron? Was he created from steel? Was he created from something hard and strong? The answer to these questions is that ﴿he was created from a gushing fluid﴾—namely, the man’s seminal fluid. In other verses, Allah Most High describes it as a lowly fluid, feeble in its flow and unlike ordinary water that runs freely. In another verse, Allah Most High describes it as a drop—that is, a small quantity of fluid. This is what man was created from. What is astonishing is that man should be created from this lowly fluid, yet his heart then becomes harder than stone—we seek refuge in Allah—except for those whose hearts Allah softens toward His religion.

He then explained that this gushing fluid ﴿emerges from between the backbone and the chest bones﴾—between the man’s backbone and the upper part of his chest. This indicates how deep within the body this fluid originates and that it emerges from a securely protected place within it. Some scholars said that ﴿emerging from between the backbone﴾ means the man’s backbone, while ﴿and the chest bones﴾ means the woman’s chest bones. However, this conflicts with the apparent wording. The correct view is that what emerges from between the backbone and the chest bones is the man’s fluid, because Allah Most High