28: And when your Lord said...

(And when your Lord said)—the grammatical case is accusative due to an implied "remember" (udhkur). The mention of the time is, as has passed repeatedly, more effective in recalling what occurred within it. The reference to the description of Lordship (Rububiyyah), combined with the attribution to His pronoun—peace and blessings be upon him—contains an indication of the reason for the ruling and serves as an honor to him, may the Exalted God bless him and grant him peace. That is: remember His saying, Exalted is He.

(to the angels)—the apparent meaning is that they are the angels of the heaven and the earth. Some of the Sufis claimed that the meaning is the angels of the earth, but there is no evidence for this.

(I am creating)—concerning what is to follow, it contains what the present tense form does not, regarding the indication that He, the Exalted, is certainly the agent of that, without any diversion or conjunction.

(a human being [basharan])—that is, a human. He expressed it as such in consideration of the appearance of his basharah, which is the outer layer of the skin, the opposite of udmah (darkness/swarthiness), contrary to Abu Zayd, who reversed this, for which Abu al-Abbas and others among the lexicographers and scholars of philology reproached him. Some of the great Sufis have another perspective on this naming, which we will mention, God willing, in the section on indications (Isharah). It is used equally for the singular and the plural. Al-Raghib mentioned that the plural of basharah comes as bashar and abshar.

It has been said: What is meant is a dense body that meets and comes into contact [with things], or a body whose skin is manifest. It does not mean "a human" in the sense of an individual, even if it is the same in reality. Some of those who said that "human" is the intended meaning stated: This is not the exact phrasing of the event at the time of the address; rather, the apparent meaning is that it was said to them, "I am creating a creation whose qualities are such and such," but in the recounting, it was restricted to the noun.

(from clay [salsal])—dependent upon "Creator" or upon an implied element that serves as an adjective for "a human being."

(from altered black mud [hamin masnun])—its interpretation and parsing have already preceded, so recall them, for that which is ancient in the covenant is not forgotten.