Tafsir of Al-Insan 76:2

(Indeed, We created man from a drop [nutfa]). The term "man" (al-insan) here contains a realization of its essence, so they do not diverge. How could they, when replacing the manifest with the hidden pronoun provides the eloquence of affirmation and establishment within the soul? If they differ in generality and specificity, then suitability is achieved. There is no doubt that interpreting this as Adam (peace be upon him) has no basis, nor does it invalidate the intention of the genus, based on the fact that it contains neither generality nor specificity. Yes, His statement (Exalted is He), "from a drop," indicates that the intended meaning is someone else, or that it is an instance of taghlib (predominance). It is said that the attribute of the majority is applied to the whole as a metaphor in predication or relation. This intention has been narrated from Qatada, al-Thawri, Ikrimah, al-Sha'bi, and also Ibn Abbas.

In a narration from Abu Salih, Ibn Abbas stated that forty years passed before the soul was breathed into him, while he was lying between Mecca and Ta’if. In a narration from al-Dahhak, he stated that he was created from clay and remained for forty years, then from hama' masnun (altered black mud) and remained for forty years, then from salsal (ringing clay) and remained for forty years. Thus, his creation was completed after one hundred and twenty years, and then the soul was breathed into him. Al-Mawardi narrated from him that the "time" mentioned here is the long, extended duration whose measure is unknown. A similar view is narrated from Ikrimah, as Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded that he said: "Indeed, there is a time from the 'time' that cannot be grasped," and he recited the verse, saying, "By Allah, it is not known how much time passed over him until Allah the Exalted created him."

I have seen from some Sufis that the hamza (in hal) is for interrogative denial. It is therefore in the meaning of negation, i.e., "There did not pass over man a time of the age in which he was not a mentioned thing." Its manifest implication is the belief in the eternity of man in time, in the sense that there was no time without a human in it; this is the eternity of the genus as argued by some philosophers, and it is disbelief by consensus. It has been interpreted that they meant "thingness of fixity" (thubut) for the eternity of man in their view, rather than "thingness of existence," necessarily because, in relation to the latter, he is temporally originated. This is guided by the statement of Shaykh Muhi al-Din in Chapter 358 of al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya: "Had there not been in the world one who is upon the image of the Truth, the purpose of knowing the Truth would not have been achieved—I mean the originated knowledge in His statement (Exalted is He), 'I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known, so I created the creation and made Myself known to them, so they knew Me.' Thus, He made Himself a treasure that could only be treasured within a thing. So, the treasure of the Truth was not itself, nor in the image of the Perfect Human in its thingness of fixity there, as if the Truth were treasured. When the Truth clothed the human in the garment of existence, the treasure appeared by his appearance, so the Perfect Human knew Him by existence, and he knew that he [the Truth] was treasured within him in his thingness of fixity, while he was not aware of it." It is not hidden that all things in the thingness of fixity are eternal, not just man. Perhaps they say that man is everything because he is the Imam Mubin (clear Imam), and the Exalted has said, "And everything We have counted in a clear Imam." The discourse on this subject is long, and we cannot dwell on it. However, we say that the assertion that hal here is for denial is rejected, even if the claim of its validity is one of the greatest [theories].

What the elders of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) understood from the verse is positive information. Abd ibn Humayd and others recorded from Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them) that he heard a man reciting, "Has there [not] passed over man a period of time in which he was not a thing worth mentioning?" and he said, "Would that it had been completed." And from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them), he heard a man reciting it, and he said, "Oh, would that it had been completed," and he was punished for saying this, so he took a clod of earth from the ground and said, "Would that I had been like this."

Amshaj (mixed drops) is the plural of mashj, like sabab and asbab, or mashj (with fatha then kasra), like katif and aktaf, or mashij, like shahid and ashhad (or nasir and ansar). That is, mixtures, the plural of khalt, meaning a blended mixture. It is said, "I mashajtu the thing," if you mix and blend it; it is mashij and mamshuj. It is an adjective for the drop (nutfa), and it is described with the plural while it is singular because within it is the collection of the man's fluid and the woman's fluid. The plural may be used for what is more than one, or in consideration of the different parts within them—thinness, thickness, yellowness, whiteness, nature, strength, and weakness—until some parts are specialized for certain organs according to what Allah willed by His wisdom, and He created him by His power. In some traditions, it is said that what is from nerve, bone, and strength is from the man's fluid, and what is from flesh and blood is from the woman's fluid. In summary, the described [singular] is placed in the position of the plural and described with the adjective of its parts. It is also said it is a singular word that came in the form af'al, like a'shar and akiyash in their saying a'shar, meaning broken things, and bard akiyash, meaning yarn spun twice. Al-Zamakhshari favored this, though the famous view from the text of Sibawayh and the majority of grammarians is that af'al is not a plural form. It is narrated that he held this view regarding al-'am (the year).

Nutfa (drop) is mixed, according to the majority, meaning the two fluids mixed and blended together. It is said that blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile mixed therein. It is said al-amshaj are the mixtures themselves, which refer to these four. It is as if it were said: "from a drop which consists of four mixtures." Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Mujahid that he said: amshaj means "colors," i.e., possessing colors; for the man's fluid is white and the woman's is yellow, and when they mix and remain in the bottom of the womb, they turn green, just as water turns green from stagnation. This is narrated from al-Kalbi. It is recorded from Zayd ibn Aslam that he said: amshaj are the veins in the drop, and this is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, meaning possessing veins. It is narrated from Ikrimah, and likewise from Ibn Abbas, that he said: amshaj means "stages" (atwar), i.e., possessing stages, for the drop becomes a clot ('alaqa), then a lump of flesh (mudgha), and so on until the completion of creation and the breathing of the soul.

His saying (Exalted is He), "We test him" (nubtalihi), is a state (hal) from the actor in "We created." The intent is: desiring to test and examine him with religious obligations later on, provided that the state is an anticipated one. Or, [it means] moving him from one state to another and from one stage to another, based on the method of metaphor, because the one being moved appears in every stage with a new appearance, like the appearance of the result of the test and trial after it. A similar view is narrated from Ibn Abbas. By both interpretations, the objection is resolved—that the test is by obligation, which occurs after making him hearing—so how can His saying, "And We made him hearing and seeing," follow it? It is said that the speech is based on precedence and postponement, and the sentence is an explanatory initiation; i.e., "And We made him hearing and seeing to test him." This is narrated from al-Farra', but it is a forced interpretation because the precedence does not occur in its proper place, neither grammatically due to the fa (conjunction), nor semantically, because the question does not arise before the making. The most appropriate is the first [view]. This "making" is like a consequence of the test, because the purpose of making him so is for him to observe the signs in the horizons and within themselves, and to hear the revealed evidences; therefore, it is connected to the creation—which is restricted by it—with the fa, and upon it He based His saying (Exalted is He)...