يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْبَعْثِ فَإِنَّا خَلَقْنَٰكُم مِّن تُرَابٍۢ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍۢ ثُمَّ مِنْ عَلَقَةٍۢ ثُمَّ مِن مُّضْغَةٍۢ مُّخَلَّقَةٍۢ وَغَيْرِ مُخَلَّقَةٍۢ لِّنُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ ۚ وَنُقِرُّ فِى ٱلْأَرْحَامِ مَا نَشَآءُ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍۢ مُّسَمًّۭى ثُمَّ نُخْرِجُكُمْ طِفْلًۭا ثُمَّ لِتَبْلُغُوٓا۟ أَشُدَّكُمْ ۖ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُتَوَفَّىٰ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَىٰٓ أَرْذَلِ ٱلْعُمُرِ لِكَيْلَا يَعْلَمَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ عِلْمٍۢ شَيْـًۭٔا ۚ وَتَرَى ٱلْأَرْضَ هَامِدَةًۭ فَإِذَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا ٱلْمَآءَ ٱهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ وَأَنۢبَتَتْ مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍۭ بَهِيجٍۢ
O People, if you should be in doubt about the Resurrection, then [consider that] indeed, We created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot, and then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed - that We may show you. And We settle in the wombs whom We will for a specified term, then We bring you out as a child, and then [We develop you] that you may reach your [time of] maturity. And among you is he who is taken in [early] death, and among you is he who is returned to the most decrepit [old] age so that he knows, after [once having] knowledge, nothing. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down upon it rain, it quivers and swells and grows [something] of every beautiful kind.
Introduction
This is āyah 5 of Sūrat Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), the 103rd sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 17. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 103 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Hajj (22)
O people, if you are in doubt about the Uprising, surely We created you of dust, then of a sperm drop, then of a blood clot, then of a lump of flesh, fully created and not fully created, that We might make clear to you. The composition of the Adamic body in the first creation is a clear argument against the deniers of the Uprising. He is saying, “I am the Lord who created a body and figure with such comeliness, a stature and form with such beauty, from that feeble sperm drop in that firm settledness. He says, “Did We not create you of feeble water, then put it in a firm settledness?” [77:20-21]. If you ponder this body, you will find an exemplar of all the created and newly arrived things in the celestial and terrestrial worlds. Just as He arranged the seven spheres in heaven, so also He composed seven parts in this body-water and dust, and then flesh, skin, veins, sinews, and bones. Just as He divided the spheres into twelve constellations, so also He made twelve holes in this structure in the likeness of the twelve constellations: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two breasts, the two well-known roads, the mouth, and the navel. Just as the angels travel in the layers of the heavens, so also the faculties of the soul travel in this Adamic composition. Just as some of the constellations in heaven are southern and some northern, some of these holes in the body are toward the right and some toward the left. Just as there are seven stars in the spheres of heaven called planets and, in the view of some, misfortune and felicity are tied to their forelocks, so also in your body there are seven faculties to which the wholesomeness of the body is tied: the faculty of eyesight, the faculty of hearing, and the faculties of taste, smell, touch, speech, and intellect. The root of these branches is in the heart, and to this the Prophet alluded with his words, “Surely in the body of Adam's child there is a lump of flesh. When it is wholesome, the rest of the body is also wholesome, and surely it is the heart.” This then is taking into account the celestial world.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
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