nonexistence? Before that, you were not anything worth mentioning; then you came into existence and became a human being. How, then, can you disbelieve in the resurrection? Hence He says, ﴾From a sperm-drop He created him, then ordained his development.﴿ A sperm-drop originally means a small quantity of water. Here, however, it refers to the man’s gushing seminal fluid, which issues from between the backbone and the ribs. He deposits it in the woman’s womb, and she conceives. ﴾Then He ordained his development﴿ means that He ordained his development through successive stages: first a sperm-drop, then a clinging clot, and then a morsel of flesh.

This is stated in the authentic hadith narrated by Ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—and he is the truthful one whose truthfulness is attested—told us:

“The creation of each one of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days as a sperm-drop. Then he becomes a clinging clot for a similar period, and then a morsel of flesh for a similar period. The angel is then sent to him and breathes the spirit into him, and is commanded to write four matters: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or blessed. By Him besides whom none is worthy of worship, one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, but then the decree overtakes him, so he performs the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, but then the decree overtakes him, so he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.” (1)

Thus, the human being’s development is ordained in his mother’s womb. Who ordains his development in this precise manner? Who conveys to him, through the navel, the blood from his mother by which he grows? None but Allah, Glorious and Exalted. Hence He says, ﴾Then He made the way easy for him.﴿ “The way” here means the path: He made it easy for him to emerge from his mother’s womb into the visible world. Thereafter, He also facilitated for him what Allah Most High mentions in His words, ﴾And shown him the two ways﴿ [al-Balad: 10].

He made his mother’s breasts available to him so that he could feed from them. Thereafter, He made accessible to him the treasuries of provision that He opened for him. Beyond all this, He made easy for him that which is most important: the path of guidance and success. This was through what He sent to him in the form of—