A012
Surah: 023 - Ayah: 012
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23:12
According to the verse (23:12) God created man from the quintessence of wet clay (tin). This means that in the beginning, God created the soul from the mumins, for it is the mumins who are the (wet) clay. This soul was a living and subtle human picture. Since everything comes from the treasures of God (15:21), therefore, it is necessary that the soul should also come from the same treasures. In the article on “The Divine Treasures” it has been mentioned that the soul comes to the mumins from those treasures and then it spreads in the world of humanity, as God says: “Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a receptacle secure (womb of the woman, then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then that of clot We made a (foetus) lump; then we made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; thereafter We produced him as another creators” (23:13-14). In these wisdom-filled verses, there are numerous wisdoms. The gist is that here God has mentioned that His attribute of createdness (khaliqiyyat) is the best and most exalted. It is obvious that this is an allusion to the best of the creatures and that is the creature of ibda. Thus from every person, whether he is a believer or a disbeliever, three thing's are created through the miracle of ibda : intellectual shadow, spiritual picture and subtle body. And nobody can know about this miracle, except the people of ma rifat. The reason for that is that many people do not recognise the bounties of the paradise.
There are two kinds of bodies: the subtle or astral body (jism-i latif), and the dense body (jism-i kathif). The relation of the soul with jism-i kathif (dense body) is transitory and for a few days (i.e. during the short time of physical existence). Furthermore, the relationship between the soul and the dense body is only an indirect one, whereas the relation of the soul with jism-i latif (subtle body) is permanent and of a lasting nature. But it should be borne in mind that jism-i latif consists of several luminous atoms. Therefore, it is said in this verse that the relation of the soul to the body lies in a dot; and here "dots" refer to the atoms of the jism- i latif, which are in the cosmic ocean of the great soul (ruh-i a'zam) as well as in the human body.
In our dense body there are innumerable small atoms, and the direct relation of the soul is with these atoms, which are able to accept and receive the vegetable soul, animal soul, rational soul, and the holy spirit. One of the Qur'anic names of jism-i latif is "sulalah" (quintessence of clay). As God says:
Verily We created man from a quintessence (of clay) (23:12).
That is to say that the creation of man was completed through jism-i latif for He says that "We created man from the quintessence of clay".
These blessed words allude to the creation of Adam, that is to say that these Divine words prove that the personality of Adam and his sons is astral and in the nature of jism-i latif And to say of jism-i latif that it is the quintessence of clay is true, for the quintessence of clay is nothing but the astral body. Then He says:
Then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest womb), firmly fixed (23:13).
That is to say that God, preserving the subtle personality (shakhsiyyat-i latif) of man, transformed some of his subtle atoms into sperm, as the Divine law necessitated (or according to natural law). This entire hikmat (wisdom) is hidden in the principle of using the term 'ja'al (23:13) after "khalaqa" (to create) (23:12) about a creature. This reveals not only that there are innumerable atoms of jism-i latif in our jism-i kathif - each of which is connected with the soul and due to which our body is living and standing - but also that we have another personality which is based on the astral body (jism-i latif).
The determination of equality, increase and decrease by the dot (i.e. atom) means that what people usually think about the equality of things is not correct. This can be true only when there is not even the difference of a single atom between different things. Thus, this shows that the measure of equality, decrease and increase, in reality, is the dot or atom.
Circle of Worm and Moth
Q. 79. The example of the worm and moth which you have presented in order to reflect on the dense creature (present mankind) and the subtle creature (angel etc.) is a living sign of the book of nature. We can understand a lot from it. In addition, we would like to request you to make us understand it further in the light of the Holy Qur'an.
A. God created the universe in six days. That is to say that, He completed the world of religion in the times of the six great prophets. Similarly, God created and completed the present human body in six stages: quintessence of clay (sulalah), sperm, a clot of congealed blood ('alaqah), a little lump (mudghah), bones, flesh. By this, the man became complete in the dense body and lived the worldly life. God then created "another creation (khalq-i akhar = subtle body)" (23:12-14). As He says "So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators" (23:14). In this verse, an allusion is made to the reality that "another creation (khalq-i akhar)” is the supreme creation. It is the creation of juththah-i ibda'ivyah. Had it not been so, allusion would not have been made here to His numerous blessings and the beauties of His creatorship.
It should be remembered that the principle of the contextual meaning of the Holy Qur'an is extremely wisdom-filled. Therefore, we want to see the explanation of "ansh'nahu (We created it)" in the verse "thumma ansh'nahu khalqan akhar (then We created it another creation)" (23:14) in another verse, which is: "inna ansh'nahunna insha'an fa-ja alnahunna abkaran" (We created them (hurls) as ought to be created. Then We made them virgins" (56:36). That is to say, first We created them in this world and caused them to pass through the different stages of life. Then, We made them virgins, i.e. We gave them the subtle body. This shows that the worldly body remains in this world and for the Hereafter, is the subtle body.
What is Soul 58
The principle of the wisdom of the Wise Qur’an is marvellous and truly comprehensive. For instance, reflect of these verses: “We created (khalaqna) man from a quintessence of wet earth; (i.e. first, man has his spiritual existence in subtle particles); then we made him (a drop of) sperm and placed him in a safe place (the womb of his mother); then we made the drop a clot, then we made the clot a little lump, the we created out of the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then created it as another creation (khalqan akhar). So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators.” (23:12-14). In these verses there are many points which merit attention. From “And we created man from the quintessence of wet earth” it appears that at the first stage of creation, man is created from a single element of earth, just as jinn is made from the single element of fire. One of the names of this stage of human creation is the world of particles. At the seventh stage of human creation, is mentioned the other creation and by this is meant that ibda I body. It means in the attribute “that allusion is made to this ibda body.
Sulalah (Quintessence, extract)
In verse (23:12), it is mentioned that man is created from the quintessence of clay and in verse (32:8) it is mentioned that he is created from the quintessence of base fluid. By the quintessence of base fluid is meant the particle of soul which comes from the loins of the father, which in reality is from the Divine treasure (15:21). O my dears! Initially everything is a particle and nothing is exempt from this law of nature.
In the Wise Qur’an the same single law for the creation of Adam and the children of Adam is mentioned repeatedly by the word "insan" (mankind) as the seven stages of the creation of man are mentioned in verses (23:12-14) which are: (a) quintessence of clay, (b) sperm, (c) clot, (d) lump, (e) bones, (f) flesh, (g) another creation. No human being can become "another creation" without passing through these stages, nor can he be called the creation of the Best of Creators (23:14).
This verse has been referred 9 times.