Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:4

(He created man)—meaning this species, not the first individual of it—(from a drop)—the origin of which is pure fluid, used here to refer to the male fluid. That is, He brought him into existence from an inanimate, senseless, and motionless fluid that possesses neither form nor stability.

(Yet behold! he is)—after his creation from that—(a manifest adversary)—an eloquent debater on his own behalf, contending against opponents. It is an intensive form. Al-Wahidi said: it means a disputant, and the pattern fa‘īl in the sense of mufā‘il is well-known to them, such as nasīb (meaning munāsib - related), khalīt (meaning khālith - mixer), and ‘ashīr (meaning ‘āshir - companion).

(Manifest)—displaying the argument he has been gifted. It is also said: the meaning is that He created him from that, and behold! he is an adversary to his Creator, Exalted be He, denying His great power, saying: "Who will give life to these bones while they are disintegrated?" The first interpretation is more appropriate to the context of gratitude, by providing the capacity for deductive reasoning as evidence for His power—glory be to His Majesty—and His oneness.

The Imam explained the nature of this deduction, stating—after claiming that man is, in nobility, inferior only to the celestial spheres and the stars, and noting that for this reason, the proof of his creation followed the proof of the creation of those: Know that man is composed of a soul and a body. The beginning of the verse is an indication of using his body as evidence for the existence of the Wise Maker, and the end of the verse is an indication of using his states [of development] as evidence.

The first proof may be formulated as follows: The drop is either homogeneous in its parts or heterogeneous. If the former, it would be impossible for the requirement of this body’s generation to be a nature inherent in its substance, because the effect of nature is essential and necessary; thus, whenever it acts upon a homogeneous material, its action must result in a spherical form. Since this is not the case—as it is evident that bodies are not spherical—we know that the one who requires it is a Wise, Choosing Agent.

If it is the latter, we say: the analysis of its composition must eventually terminate in parts, each of which is in itself a simple body. If the manager of these were a natural force, it would be necessary for each of those simple parts to be spherical, which would imply that man should be in the shape of spheres joined to one another. Since that is not the case, we know that the one who requires it is also a Choosing Agent—Exalted be His Majesty. Furthermore, the drop is moist and rapidly decomposing, so it does not retain a position; the part that is the substance of the brain could end up in the lower extremities, and the part that is the substance of the heart could end up in the head. Since man is always on this specific arrangement despite the possibility of others, we know that his emergence in that arrangement is solely by the management of a Wise, Choosing Agent. It is not valid to say this is the effect of stars and celestial positions, for their influences are uniform; moreover, the invalidity of them being influential through any other means has been demonstrated in its proper place.

The second proof is that human souls, at the beginning of their nature, are less understanding, intelligent, and sagacious than the souls of other animals. A chick, upon emerging from its eggshell, distinguishes between a friend and an enemy; it flees from a cat, seeks refuge with its mother, and distinguishes between food that suits it and food that does not. As for the human infant, when it separates from its mother’s womb, it distinguishes neither friend from enemy nor harmful from beneficial. Then, after growing, its intellect strengthens and its understanding expands until it becomes capable of knowing Allah the Exalted, knowing the various kinds of celestial and terrestrial creatures, gaining insight into many of their subtle conditions, and engaging in disputes and debates. The transition of his soul from that extreme dullness to this extreme sagacity must necessarily be by the management of a Wise, Choosing Divine, who moves it from its imperfection to its perfection and from its ignorance to its knowledge according to wisdom and choice.

As for the second interpretation—that it is more appropriate to the context of listing the misdeeds of the disbelievers, as it includes the statement of the audacity of those who disbelieve in Allah the Exalted, their lack of shame before Him, and their impudence in persisting in disbelief—some have mentioned that this view is supported by His saying in Surah Yasin, after mentioning a similar context: "He said, 'Who will give life to these bones while they are disintegrated?'" This is a definitive text regarding what was mentioned; thus, the beginning of the verse is for deduction, and its end is for establishing the account of their impudence. This was countered by saying it is of no weight, because the theme of what precedes that [verse] in that Surah is the mention of resurrection and their obstinacy regarding it, unlike this [Surah], and every context has its own discourse.

As for the verse being driven to establish the impudence of man, given that there is no contradiction between proving Oneness and Power and establishing the impudence of the deniers—hence the completion was made for what preceded it: "Exalted is He above what they associate"—the absence of a contradiction does not necessitate the existence of the [intended] relevance. In my view, each has its proper scope. In al-Kashf, both meanings are deemed suitable for the context, though the second has added suitability with the saying: "Exalted is He above what they associate." He then integrated the first meaning into it.

Al-Wahidi narrated that Ubayy ibn Khalaf came to the Prophet—may Allah the Exalted bless him and grant him peace—with some disintegrated bones and said: "O Muhammad, do you think Allah the Exalted will give life to this after it has disintegrated?" Then this was revealed, similar to what is at the end of Yasin. The well-known view is that the latter is what was revealed regarding that event. As for the implication of the "then" (fa) in the sudden, interruptive sense in His saying—Exalted be He—"Yet behold! he is" and so on: even though his being a "manifest adversary," in whatever sense it is intended, does not immediately follow his creation from a drop—since there are intermediate stages between them—it is a statement of his developmental phases toward the perfection of his intellect. The sequence is therefore in consideration of his final state; thus, there is no ground for assuming intermediate stages or for claiming it is a case of expressing a thing's state by what it will eventually become. So understand.