leads astray whoever takes him as a patron and guides him to the punishment of the Blaze.”

Then He established the proof against those who deny the Resurrection, saying: “O mankind, if you are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then indeed We created you”—meaning your father Adam, who is the origin of progeny—“from dust, then from a drop of semen”—meaning his descendants. A drop of semen is seminal fluid; its original linguistic meaning is a small amount of water, and its plural is niṭāf. “Then from a clinging clot,” which is thick, congealed blood; its plural is ʿilaq. This is because the drop of semen becomes thick blood, then becomes flesh. “Then from a lump of flesh,” that is, a small piece of flesh equivalent to what may be chewed, “formed and unformed.”

Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said: “Formed” means complete in creation, while “unformed” means incomplete—that is, deficient in creation.

Mujahid said: Formed and unformed—that is, shaped and unshaped; namely, the miscarried fetus.

It was also said: The formed one is the child whom a woman delivers at term, whereas the unformed one is the miscarried fetus.

It is narrated from Alqamah, from Abdullah ibn Masud, that he said: When the drop of semen settles in the womb, an angel takes it in the palm of his hand and says, “O Lord, shall it be formed or unformed?” If He says, “Unformed,” the womb casts it out as blood, and it does not become a living soul. But if He says, “Formed,” the angel says, “O Lord, male or female? Wretched or blessed? What will be its lifespan, its deeds, its provision, and in which land will it die?” He is then told, “Go to the Mother of the Book, for you will find all of that therein.” So he goes and finds it in the Mother of the Book, then copies it down. It remains with him until he reaches his final state. (1)

“So that We may make clear to you”: that is, so that We may show you the perfection of Our power and wisdom in directing the stages of your creation, and so that you may infer from His power to originate creation His power to bring it forth again.

It was also said: So that We may make clear to you what you are to do, what you are to refrain from, and what you need in worship.

“And We cause to remain in the wombs whatever We will”: thus, the womb does not reject it or miscarry it, “until a specified term”—the time of its departure from the womb, complete in both creation and term. “Then We bring you forth” from your mothers’ wombs “as a child,” that is, small; and He did not say: