Al-Qiyamah · Makki · ayah 38 of 40

Al-Qiyamah 75:38

ثُمَّ كَانَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقَ فَسَوَّىٰ

“Then he was a clinging clot, and [Allāh] created [his form] and proportioned [him]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Then the drop became a clinging thing, and Allah shaped it and made it even: the human 'was', but only He 'made'.

A reflection

You 'were'. He 'made'

A boy carries home the bird box he 'built' in the school workshop. The technician measured and cut every piece. The boy hammered in three nails, slightly crooked. He is very proud of it.

Look closely at the grammar of these two ayat. In 75:37, the human being is the subject of one verb: yaku, 'was'. Was he not a drop? In this ayah, he is the subject of one more: kāna, 'was'. Then he was a clinging clot. Being is all he does.

Then the subject changes, with no announcement. Fa-khalaqa fa-sawwā: then He created, then He proportioned. The verbs of action belong to Someone else. One commentator noted that even the 'was' happened by Allah's power. He quoted the fuller account: 'Then We made the drop into a clinging clot' (23:14).

So in the story of your own making, your part was to be there. Every act was His. You did not choose your eyes, design your hands or set the beat of your heart. You were not consulted about your face. You hammered in no nails at all.

That is hard news for the ego, which likes the word 'self-made'. We tell our story as if we were its main author: my talent, my effort, my rise. This ayah quietly takes the pen back. The most we can say is that we were present.

Someone may ask why Allah speaks of His making at all. Does He want the credit? He is free of all need (35:15); our acknowledgement adds nothing to Him. But a false story about yourself is a heavy thing to carry. It must be defended, polished and fed. The truth is lighter. You were made, by Someone who meant to make you.

And there is honour hidden in the humility. The One who did all the verbs did them with care: created, then proportioned. You were not thrown together. You were worked on.

The boy's bird box is still on his father's shed. The father knows who cut the wood, and loves the boy no less. That is closer to the truth of us than any story of being self-made.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.