Surah Al-Hijr Ayat 26 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 26
And We did certainly create man out of clay from an altered black mud.
We created man from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape;
Surely We brought man into being out of dry ringing clay which was wrought from black mud,
And indeed, We created man from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud.
Verily We created man of potter’s clay of black mud altered,
And indeed We already created man of dry clay of mud modeled.
We created man out of dried clay formed from dark mud-
یقیناً ہم نے انسان کو کالی اور سڑی ہوئی کھنکھناتی مٹی سے، پیدا فرمایا ہے
Quran 15 Verse 26 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Al-Hijr ayat 26, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(15:26) Surely We brought man into being out of dry ringing clay which was wrought from black mud,[17]
17. The Arabic word salsal means the dried clay which produces a sound like pottery.
Hams is the black mud which has become so rotten as to be in a fermented state.
Masnun has a double meaning: (a) rotten clay which has become greasy, (b) clay which has been molded into a shape. It is clear from the wording of the text that at first the image of man was made of clay from rotten earth and when it dried up, soul was breathed into it. Thus the Quran positively refutes the Darwinian theory of evolution that man came into existence after passing through continuous genetic adaptations. It will, therefore, be a futile attempt, as some modernized commentators have done, to prove that theory from the Quran.
Ibn-Kathir
26. And indeed, We created man from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud. 27. And the Jinn, We created earlier from the smokeless flame of fire.
Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah said that Salsal means dry mud. The apparent meaning is similar to the Ayah:
(He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the potter’s clay, And He created the Jinns from a smokeless flame of fire.) (55:14-15) It was also reported from Mujahid that,
(dried (sounding) clay) means “putrid”, but it is more appropriate to interpret an Ayah with another Ayah.
(of altered mud) means the dried clay that comes from mud, which is soil. “Altered” here means smooth.
(And the Jinn, We created earlier) means before creating humans.
(from the smokeless flame of fire.) Ibn `Abbas said, “It is the smokeless flame that kills.” Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi said that Shu`bah narrated to them from Abu Ishaq, who said: “I visited `Umar Al-Asamm when he was sick, and he said: `Shall I not tell you a Hadith that I heard from `Abdullah bin Mas`ud He said: `This smokeless flame is one of the seventy parts of the smokeless fire from which the Jinn where created. Then he recited,
(And the Jinn, We created earlier from the smokeless flame of fire).”’ The following is found in the Sahih,
(The angels were created from light, the Jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from that which has been described to you.) The Ayah is intended to point out the noble nature, good essence and pure origin of Adam.
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