مِن نُطفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ

He has created him from a drop of [seminal] fluid, and then proportioned him.

EXEGESIS

Nuṭfah (a drop of fluid) means a limpid water, and has been used to refer to the seminal fluid of the male.^{‎[1]Raghib, p. 811.} The mixture of the male and female reproductive material was also called nuṭfah.^{‎[2]Tibyan, 9/437.}

Qaddara (proportioned) is the second verb form of qadara which means to have the power to do or not do something, and also to decide and to decree. From this come various meanings such as taqdīr (the verbal noun of qaddara), which means to act upon one’s power and to manifest it in externally in the way that one has desired; miqdār, meaning a specific amount, which is the result of taqdīr; qudrah, meaning power; and so on.^{‎[3]Tahqiq, 9/227-228, q-d-r.}

Here, qaddara means that God has fashioned man in the appropriate form as dictated by wisdom, without any excess or deficiency,^{‎[4]Tibyan. 10/273.} and He formed you and perfected your forms (64:3). It can also refer to the fate that God has decreed for man – what his future holds, what his life will be like, when he will die, and so on.^{‎[5]See Tabrisi, 10/665-666.}

EXPOSITION

Verses 18-19 turn their attention to the origin of man and how he was given life from a mere drop of seminal fluid. This reminder serves a twofold purpose. Firstly, it is meant to instil humility in man, by reminding him that he is no different from his fellow human beings, and that recognition of his humble origins should do away with his foolish pride.

Secondly, just as God enables that small droplet to develop and grow to something so much larger, the capacity of human spiritual growth is even greater still. The verses also emphasise how it is God who enables all this: He creates, He proportions, He guides. The implication is that man’s capacity (qudrah) is not self-derived – it is the culmination of divine taqdīr.

It is not only man that God has created or subjected to His divine will and accurate measurement and proportion (taqdīr), but rather all things, and He created everything and determined it (qaddarahu) in a precise measure (taqdīr) (25:2), Indeed We have created everything in a measure (qadar) (54:49). What makes man special is the intelligence and free will that God has bestowed upon him. This is what makes kufr and denial such an affront to the natural order, since it is to deny one’s source and purpose.

We may also point out how we know today that the information regarding the physical composition of a person is all detailed in the nuṭfah from which he grows. This is perhaps what is hinted at by the verse when it says that God has created man from the nuṭfah and then decreed his taqdīr from that.^{‎[6]See also Nemuneh, 26/137-138.} This testament to God’s power to create man from a drop of fluid is setting the stage for verse 22 and the topic of resurrection; Was he not a drop of emitted semen? Then he became a clinging mass; then He created [him] and proportioned [him], and made of him the two sexes, the male and the female. Is not such a one able to revive the dead? (75:37-40).

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Makārim Shīrāzī muses that qaddara could also mean to empower (to give qudrah). In other words, God has taken such a weak and miniscule thing as a droplet of seminal fluid, and fashioned from it a capable man.^{‎[7]Nemuneh, 80/18.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’^{‎[8]Psalms 139:13-14.}

[1] Raghib, p. 811.
[2] Tibyan, 9/437.
[3] Tahqiq, 9/227-228, q-d-r.
[4] Tibyan. 10/273.
[5] See Tabrisi, 10/665-666.
[6] See also Nemuneh, 26/137-138.
[7] Nemuneh, 80/18.
[8] Psalms 139:13-14.