Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:2

(It is He who created you from clay): An inauguration of speech introduced to clarify their disbelief in the Resurrection. Although the address is general in its validity, it is specifically directed here at those who disbelieved, as indicated by the subsequent address. There is a shift (iltifat) in it, and the point of this is to increase the level of condemnation and reproach. The specification of their creation for mention—among all other proofs for the validity of the Resurrection—despite the fact that what preceded it (i.e., the creation of the heavens and the earth) is among the most manifest of proofs, is because the proof regarding the souls is closer to the observer than the proof regarding the horizons mentioned in the previous verse.

The meaning of the created ones being formed from clay is that it is the initial origin of their creation, for it is the primary substance, as it is the origin of Adam (peace be upon him) and the origin of all other human beings. The Exalted did not attribute the creation to him (peace be upon him) specifically, even though he is the one from whom it truly originated. That (omission) suffices for the purpose for which the speech was introduced, as an illustration of the method of analogy and as an exaggeration in removing doubt and confusion. It has been said regarding the explanation of their creation from it: that man is created from a drop of fluid (nutfah) and blood (tamth), and both are from the nutrients derived from soil, either directly or indirectly.

Al-Mahdawi said regarding this: Every human being is created initially from clay, based on the report: "There is no newborn who is born except that some dust from the soil of his grave is sprinkled upon his nutfah." There is hesitation in the heart regarding this matter, and if the tradition is authentic, it is not free from a form of figurative expression. It is also said: The speech is based on the omission of a genitive, meaning "He created your ancestors." Regardless, there is within it such clarity of indication regarding the perfection of His power—glorified be His state—to resurrect, which is not hidden; for whoever is capable of enlivening that which had never caught the scent of life at all, is more clearly capable of enlivening that which had accompanied it for a duration.

(Then He decreed a term): That is, He ordained and wrote a limit, meaning a specific measure of time for death. (And) "Then" (thumma) is for sequential ordering in speech, not in time, because the decree precedes the creation. It is said: The clearer interpretation is sequence in time, and by "decreeing and writing," it is meant that which the angels know and record, as occurred in the authentic tradition of the two Shaykhs: "Indeed, each of you is gathered in the womb of his mother for forty days as a nutfah, then becomes a clot like that, then becomes a lump like that, then the angel is sent to him, and the soul is breathed into him, and he is ordered with four words: to write his provision, his term, his deed, and whether he is wretched or happy."

(And a term named by Him): Meaning a specific limit for the resurrection from the graves. It is the subject (mubtada'), and starting with it is valid due to its specification by the description, or because it occurs in the place of detail. (And with Him) is the predicate, and its tanween is to aggrandize its status and to emphasize the gravity of the matter. It is placed before its predicate, the adverbial phrase, even though in common usage regarding an indefinite noun described by such a phrase, the necessity of placing it before it is to fulfill the requirement of aggrandizement. For whatever is intended for that purpose deserves precedence. Thus, the meaning is: "And a term—any term—independent in the knowledge of the Exalted and Almighty, no one knows the time of its arrival, neither the Exalted nor any other, neither in summary nor in detail." This is unlike the term of death, for it is known in summary, based on the manifestation of its signs or upon what is habitual in human affairs.

It is said: The aspect of informing about this, or restricting it to being "with Him" (the Exalted and Almighty), is that it is among the five unseen matters that no one knows except Allah the Exalted. And the first (the term of death), even if no one knows it except Him before it happens—as the Exalted said: "And no soul knows in what land it will die"—we nevertheless know it for those whose death we have witnessed and whose dates of birth and death we have recorded. Thus, we know it, whether it refers to the end of the period or its entirety, when it was, and how long it lasted.

Some have gone to the view that the first term is that between creation and death, and the second is that between death and resurrection. Al-Hasan, Ibn al-Musayyib, Qatadah, and al-Dahhak narrated this, and al-Zajjaj chose it. ‘Ata’ narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that he said: "He decreed a term from his birth to his death, and a term named with Him from his death to his resurrection, the timing of which no one knows except Him." Thus, if a man is righteous and maintains his family ties, Allah the Exalted increases for him from the term of the afterlife (from death to resurrection) into the term of life; and if he is not righteous or does not maintain ties, Allah decreases from his term of life and increases from the term of the afterlife. This is based on the saying of the Exalted: "And no long-lived person is granted long life nor is his life lessened but that it is in a register." Accordingly, the meaning of the non-changeability of the (second) term is the non-changeability of its end.

It is said: The first term is the time during which the people of the world live until they die, and the second term is the term of the Hereafter, which has no end. This is attributed to Mujahid and Ibn Jubayr, and al-Jubba’i chose it. It is not hidden how far-fetched it is to apply the term "term" to a duration that is not finite. It is reported from Abu Muslim that the first term is the term of that which has passed, and the second is the term of that which remains and that which is to come. It is also said: The first is sleep and the second is death; Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated this from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), and al-Tabarsi supported it with the saying of the Exalted: "And He sends the other back to a term named." It is not hidden how far-fetched this is, because even if sleep is the "brother" of death, it is not known to be called a "term," even if it is called "death."

It is said: Both terms are for death, and every person has two terms: a term that is written, which accepts increase and decrease, and that is what is intended by "lifespan" in the report, "Maintaining family ties increases the lifespan," and the like. And a term named with Him—the Exalted and Almighty—which does not accept change and of which no one is informed except Him. Many people have said: The intention behind the "increase" mentioned in such reports is the increase in blessing and success in obedience. It is also said: The intention is the longevity of life through the remaining of a beautiful reputation, as they say: "A young man's reputation is his second life." Al-Shihab weakened this. It is said: Both terms are one, and the structure is "This is a term named," making it the predicate of an omitted subject, and "with Him" being a predicate after a predicate, or related to "named," which is the most far-fetched of the interpretations.

(Then you still doubt): Meaning, you doubt the Resurrection, as Ibn Abi Hatim extracted from Khalid ibn Ma‘dan. According to al-Raghib, miryah (doubt) is hesitation between two opposites. Seeking "emareh" (a sign) is derived from mara al-dar’ (he massaged the udder) to extract milk. The aspect of relevance in using it for "doubt" is that doubt is the cause for extracting knowledge, which is like pure milk from between waste and blood. It is said: Imtira’ is denial; it is said: It is argumentation. Regardless, the intention is to point out the extreme nature of their doubting the occurrence of the Resurrection and its reality in itself, while they observe in their own selves evidence that cuts off the root of that doubt entirely. For he who is capable of bestowing life and that which branches from it upon a substance that was not prepared for any of that, is more clearly capable of bestowing it upon a substance that has been prepared for it and has accompanied it for a duration. From this, it is known that a portion of the aforementioned interpretations does not align with the sequence of the noble order. Directing the "disavowal" toward "doubting" based on the first interpretation—even though the addressers are certain of the non-existence of the Resurrection and are persistent in denying and rejecting it, as indicated by many of the verses—is to show that their certainty is at the highest level of disavowal and rejection.

Some investigators mentioned that the first verse is a proof of Monotheism just as this one is a proof of the Resurrection. The aspect of this is that it indicates that praise and veneration do not befit anyone but Him—the Almighty—because He is the Bestower of blessings and no one else is. It necessitates from this that there is no object of worship and no god besides Him, by way of priority. Some claimed that it does not indicate that except by considering the proof of mutual hindrance (tamanu‘); for if one were to set that aside, it would not indicate more than the existence of a Maker. The origin of that is carrying the proof onto a rational demonstration or the premises from which its forms are composed, and that is not necessary. Among the people are those who made the first verse also a proof of the Resurrection, along the lines of the saying of the Exalted: "Are you more difficult to create or is the heaven [which] He constructed?" It is not hidden that this is contrary to the apparent meaning.