Ghafir (The Forgiver)

67. It is He Who has created you from dust, then from semen, then from a clot, then brings you forth as an infant [from the womb], then [makes you grow] to reach the age of full strength, and afterwards to be old, though some among you die before [you reach an advanced age, but some of you live and] reach an appointed term in order that you may understand.

Man is created from clay rather than from animals through evolution. It is Divine Omnipotence that makes the reasoning and thinking man from inanimate clay. The best subject of intellection is man’s creation whose death does not lead to his perdition but it is taking his soul from his body.

Thus the blessed Verse in question says:

“It is He Who has created you from dust, then from semen, then from a clot, then brings you forth as an infant [from the womb], then [makes you grow] to reach the age of full strength, and afterwards to be old, though some among you die before [you reach an advanced age, but some of you live and] reach an appointed term in order that you may understand.”

Therefore, the first stage is man’s creation from clay, since all nutrient elements constituting man and his semen stem from clay. The next stage is that of semen which concerns all men but Adam and his wife, Eve.

The third stage is the one in which semen has evolved into a clot. The fourth stage is that of mudgha (“small chunk of chewed flesh”) in which organs begin to develop and it is the stage of sense and movement. The Holy Qur’an does not make mention of these three stages herein but it is mentioned elsewhere in It.

The fourth stage is mentioned herein as that of the birth of the embryo. The fifth stage is that of development of physical strength maintained by some as the age of thirty in which physical strength reaches its zenith, though some have considered it earlier or later than thirty years of age; however it is different in different people.

The mentioned age is termed as:

“utmost growth or maturity” (bulugh ashadd)

in the Holy Qur’an. After the age of thirty, faculties begin to regress. The sixth stage is old age which comes in time. Finally, the last stage arrives which is the end of life and man is taken to his immortal dwelling place.

Taking some many expressions, systematic and well measured developments there remains no room for doubts as to the Omnipotence and Glory of the Origin of the world of existence and His Bounties and Favors.

It is worthy of note that the clause:

“He created you” (khalaqakum)

is employed with regard to the first four stages concerning man’s creation from clay, semen, clot, and the birth of the infant in which no role is stipulated for man; however, the three stages following birth, i.e. the stage of attaining to the zenith of physical strength, old age, and the end of life, the clauses:

“that you reach” (li-tablughu)

and

“that you be” (li-takunu)

are employed which refer to man’s existential independence following birth and probably to the fact that the three stages may be attained earlier or later owing to man’s prudence or imprudence; in other words, man may cause his early old age or early death mentioning which makes a reference to Qur’anic precise expressions.

The verbal form:

yutawaffa (“you die”)

referring to death indicates that within the context of Qur’anic Verses, death is not equal to perdition, but angels of death take human soul to the other world.

This recurrent Qur’anic motif explicitly reveals the Islamic attitude toward death thus totally stripping death of the material concept which is perdition and non-existence and considers it as a gate to the world of immortality.

The clause:

“some among you die before [you reach an advanced age]”

may either refer to the period of life prior to death or to all the preceding stages in which man may come to the end of his life.

It is also worthy of note that all these stages are intertwined with

“then” (thumma)

indicating consecutiveness with interludes except the last stage which is the end of life connected with

“and” (wa).

This different expression may demonstrate that reaching the end of life does not necessarily occur following attaining to an old age, since:

“many a youth died before reaching advanced years”

and even some children or young adults die before reaching youth.