فَليَنظُرِ الإِنسانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ
So let man consider from what he was created.
EXEGESIS
Naẓar, here translated as consider, has the meaning of turning the gaze towards something to see it and comprehend it. As such, it also carries the meaning of pondering and consideration. Finally, this can mean the opinion that one has formed after investigation. Do they not observe (yanẓurūna) the camel, [to see] how she has been created? (88:17).
The prefix fa which comes before the imperative verb liyanẓur and is translated as So, implies consequential order and indicates that this consideration and pondering is a reaction to the previous verses, which called the heaven and the nightly visitor as evidence of the power of God to appoint guards over us, watching all of our deeds, and recording them for the Day of Accounting. Those who doubt this reality are called to stare at their own beginning and to reflect on the power of God.
We mentioned earlier that in verse 4 the word soul was used, whereas here the word man (insān) is used. The reason for this may be that the word insān carries the meaning of nisyān (to forget). It is this nature of man that may cause him to forget his humble and base origins and wrap himself in pride. He forgets two important questions: where he has come from, and where he is going. That is why he is reminded here to look carefully at his origins and remind himself of the lowly state that he was once in.
This miniscule and insignificant nature of man’s origin is emphasised linguistically by the abbreviated expression mimma (from what), which is short for min mā.
In this verse and the next, the subject of the passive verb khuliqa (created) is not mentioned. This is probably because there can be no doubt as to who the Creator is. The passive use of the verb also ties in with the theme of mystery.
EXPOSITION
In continuation of His oath concerning each soul’s accountability, God exhorts His creation to ponder upon their own origin; for by carefully examining the way they themselves were brought into being, they will come to realise the power of God and His capability to raise them up once more after their death: Is not such a one able to revive the dead? (75:40).
In this verse, God is setting two different examples side-by-side: one is the light of the ṭāriq, completing its mysterious and wondrous journey from the far reaches of the galaxy. And the other is the example of the mysterious microcosm that exists within man himself and the mystery of man’s own creation.
Imam Khomeini speaks wonderfully in his Forty Hadiths of the humility that man’s origin should instil in him:
‘O man, who were initially nothing; who were hidden in the folds of nothingness for ages and epochs, more insignificant than nothingness itself and absent from the realms of existence, when God Almighty resolved to create you, you were the most deficient of the recipients, mean, and insignificant. You were incapable of receiving the Divine effusion (fayd). He created you from the matter (hayula) of the universe, which is absolute potentiality and pure weakness, and moulded you into an elemental bodily form which was the lowest and the meanest of the existents of the universe. After that you were given the form of sperm, which you will loathe to touch it and will take great pains for cleansing your hands if by chance they are made dirty by it. Then you were kept in a very narrow and unclean place, the twin reproductive glands of the father. And after that through the urinary tract in a terribly ugly state you were brought into the mother’s womb and you were given such a place to live in, that description will be disgusting to you. After being placed there, you were given the form of a foetus and a lump of clotted blood. There you were nourished with such a food that you will go mad if you are told about it, and will feel ashamed. But since everyone has to pass through this tribulation, it abates our shame of it.’
[1] Raghib, p. 812.
[2] Mizan, 20/260.
[3] Khomeini, Forty Hadiths, pp. 116-117.