In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful

Surah Al-Qiyammah verse 38

ِ  ًَُْ 
ُ َ َْ‫َأ‬
“Was he not a drop of fluid emitted forth?”

A commentary on the above verse of the Holy Quran by Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Rafi Ahmad (AS)

It is a questioning sentence and there is diversion of speech which means to change the speech
from third person to second and then first person. Due to this change, there develops beauty and
diversity in speech. It means as said; Was not man a drop of semen which Allah the Exalted had
created with His special design i.e. Was not the origin of man in this lowly shape and don’t you see
in it an unusual design?

In the previous verse (32) “For he neither accepted the truth, nor offered prayers;”
there was third person then in verse 36 “Woe unto thee! And Woe again!” turned into
second person then (in this verse) “Was he not”; turned into third person. This diversion has
made the speech diversified and beautiful. Secondly the reason to change the second person to
third person is also this that in “Woe unto thee! And Woe again” the address was not to all
human beings rather it was only to the wretched and unfortunate ones. Therefore according to
situation it was necessary that the addressed person (addressee) be changed; because all men,
wretched, as well as fortunate one, are created from semen. Herein also lies this hint to look at the
Omnipotence of God that a person developing from this base drop sometimes achieves fortunate
heights and the other reaches to maximum wickedness.

In this verse it has been demonstrated that the man who has such origin does not understand that
when he was a base worm and discharged into the mother’s womb then the Omnipotence of God
bestowed it such excellence and by making it animate being exited it from the darkness of the

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womb as said “Fi Zulumat-e- Salasa” ( ) that Allah the Exalted through
various stages of evolution in the womb of mother in three dark curtains caused your birth. The
three darknesses are an outer sack of the baby, the second is womb and the third is the abdomen
of the mother. In such a small and dark place which resembles a cave, the man after various
stages of evolution was animated then does he think that after such excellence of creation He will
leave him in grave as redundant and will not revive him. Is man baser than that worm which was
discharged in the womb of the mother and then evolves and then appears in the world and after
birth, achieves physical, intellectual and spiritual excellences and then after the passage of time,
dies? Question then arises that to this base worm Allah the Exalted exited from the mother’s womb
but when it reached excellence then will He cause him to die and declare purposeless and
redundant. Thus the base origin of man; then to pass through various stages of evolution and to be
born with such a physique which is not given to any other creature; and to be wise and intelligent
and in order to use wisdom and intellect to have excellent ‘Banan’ ( ) i.e. joints in the shapes
of hands and to make him capable of moral and spiritual excellences and these evolutionary stages
that man passes through and those heights for which to achieve he has been bestowed
corresponding capabilities; all these repel this notion that man be left as such and he be not made
the bearer of “Sharia” and after his death there should be not any life and reward or punishment.

The Almighty who had kept so many capabilities in a base microscopic worm, He wanted to see the
man to fulfill extraordinary purposes and to achieve those excellences for which he was given
extraordinary organs and capabilities; do not seem to be accomplished in this world hence this is
the proof that for him another life and a higher one is also destined.

The subject which has been described in this verse as a gesture is about man’s base origin and
then its excellent transformation and thus womb of mother has been given resemblance to a grave
and demonstration of life after death. This subject has been described in Surah Abasa (verses 18-
23) as expounded here in. Woe for man how ungrateful he is. Look how God created him from a
base matter. He started his origin with the sperm and then grew him in a destined proportion. In
that microscopic worm of sperm put in all that which after proportionate transformation was to
become a man. Then after completion of stages of creation made his birth easy and then when
after living for a period he dies; then placed in a grave. This is the design of God which tells that
when He would please then will take him out of this grave and revive. In these verses – there is
‘Lufo Nashar’ ( ) i.e. involution or evolution that is comparison of “created from
sperm” is “caused to die and put in grave” i.e. discharge of sperm of male is similar to
putting in the grave and to be born from abdomen. The comparison of “Then he makes the
way easy for him”; there is “Then when he pleases, He will raise him up again.”

So to revive is as such that man will be raised from grave as if birth from the abdomen of the
mother.

If somebody comes across this doubt that to be born from sperm is not specific to humans; the
baby of animal is also born and given birth like that; then this doubt is also disposed of in the next

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verse: 39 by the word ‘Fasawa’ ( ) that other animals do not have ‘Taswia’ ( ) i.e.
they do not possess intellect, wisdom and manners and they are not given the spirit. That the
speciality of man is not only that he takes birth from the womb of the mother rather what
distinguishes man is his “Taswia” the description of which has already been expressed earlier in

verse 3 of Al-Qiyammah “(self accussing soul)” ‘Nafse-e-Lawama’ ( ) and

Nutfa ( ) in Arabic is spoken for water; maybe meagre in quantity or more. It is narrated in a
Hadith that Islam & Muslims will keep on flourishing and “Shrik” (infidelity) and people believing in
shrik (pagans) keep on decreasing so much so that a lone rider will travel between two ‘nutfatain’

( ) and he will have no fear except that he may not go astray due to traveling alone.
Nobody will oppress him. Here ‘Nutfatain’ means the seas in the East and West of Arabian
Peninsula. Hence this word can also be used for such meanings but its real meanings are scarcity;
because the real root of it which is ‘Nutf’ ( ) means bad and dirty water which is little in

quantity. Also when it is said in Arabic ‘Nutfa –Al-ma’ ( ) then it means that water is
falling drop by drop.

In this verse the connotation of base and little are conspicuous because it is said “Nutfatun Min

Mani” ( ) that is a drop of semen and these words are for disdain and also has the
meaning of insignificance and contempt. In Noble Quran for semen of male which is discharged in
the womb of mother the word of ‘Nutfa’ is also used as in the verse of Surah Abaasa mentioned

above and in Surah Al-Najam it is said “ Min Nutfatin Iza Tumnah” ( )

that tell us that semen that you drop in the abdomen of women and in it capabilities of excellence
in the form of chromosomes and DNA and its nourishment and the causes of attaining excellence
you have done it or We have created it? Whatever is imagined in its production is the result of our
Design.

Thus both the words (Nutfa and Mani) are separately used for the semen of male. Here in this
verse these have been put together. There must be some wisdom, rather many, for such use.

One wisdom is that in the word of ‘Nutfa’ there is disdain and in the other meaning of ‘Nutfa’
there is connotation of distinctness. Hence by using the word of ‘Nutfa’ it is conveyed that this

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dirty drop of semen which seems indecent and polluted; in it lies your origin and the word ‘Mani’ is
because in the root Meem-Noon-Ye ( ) there is connotation of Destiny that is; it points out
to that Omnipotence of Allah the Exalted for His Keeping wonders in the sperm and manifested by
Him. Its explanation will be provided later on.

The second reason for the use of word ‘Nutfa’ or ‘Mani’ can also be this that although ‘Nutfa Mim
Mani’ is used for the semen of male but in “Munjid” (name of a dictionary) it is mentioned that it is
also spoken for the female fluid. Therefore where there is word ‘Nutfa’ there it points out that
semen of man after joining with woman fluid from ovarian discharge makes the womb capable of
pregnancy is the cause of birth of a child and where there is only the word ‘Mani’ then it points
towards this; that thing which after completion is to become human either in the shape of male or
female that emerges out of male only. These two reasons come to my mind and Allah Knows Best.

As regards to the use of the word ‘Yumna’ ( ) the question arises that what knowledge the
Almighty wanted to impart by utilizing this word, because every male and female adult knows how
a child is born. It is not outside the realm to consider that Allah the Exalted used such words
because it is a delicate subject which is called “Sexology” and for which there is big stress that even
small children should be educated about it. Hence in Western countries the small children are
taught with the pouring of pollen on flower for distinguishing of male and female. When they get a
little older then with the help of pictures it is considered necessary to give teaching about
copulation of man and woman. In this delicate subject Islam has favoured a lot to humans but this
is not the occasion for their expression in detail. It is enough that it is not out of context that Allah

the Exalted by saying “Mani Yen Yumna” ( ) and then mentioning male and female
might have favoured the tender minds who are still not aware of secrets of adulthood that in
accordance with the level of their understandings might have painted out with a gentle description
about a reality.

Imam Raazi has also described “Yumna” as a hint; that it is about the outlet. He says this hint is
such as said about the mother of Jesus. His mother was pious and he was born the same way and
from the same outlet as other animals and human beings are born and he inherited the attributes
of humanity from his mother. In the words “They used to take food” refer to their dependence
and the necessary call of nature. All these hints are the same reason that Jesus of Nazareth was
born from the abdomen of a human and likewise he had the necessary requirement of intake of
food and drinks and necessary calls of nature as an ordinary man and even animals. Therefore
according to Imam Raazi “They used to take food” hints towards outlets of stool and urine
which are in accordance with the dignity; decency and beauty of the word of Allah. “Yumna” is
the hint towards that outlet from which semen is discharged. According to him this is to express
disdain.

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In my view it is a decent hint because of delicacy of the subject and its relation with the same
(subject) called sexology. Its somewhat detail will be expressed; God willingly in the description of
commentary of verse 40 hereafter.

The second wisdom herein is to express relationship between man and woman i.e. one of it
having an affecting power and the other having receiving qualities. By referring to this relationship
nearness between them might have been described that in reality they are not two units but
constituents of a single being who together become one.

The third wisdom I have described earlier is that life after death is given resemblance with the
darkness of the womb of the mother and it is expressed that just like a baby takes birth from the
abdomen of the woman similarly God has made the grave for every spiritual being where he will be
kept and after the destined period he will be evolved as a child takes birth from the abdomen of a
woman.

Similarly the word “Yumna” is derived from Mana. ‘Al Mana’ ( ) means the Design;
the fate. A poet says although I possess knowledge but I do not know what Destinies mean and
what Destiny the time will reveal. E.g. “Manalah alShae” ( ) means Allah fixed the
destiny of a certain matter. Hence “Yumna” means giving destiny and “Nutfateen Min Manieen
Yumna” ( ) means the sperm in which Allah the Exalted has destined all
that development to take the shape of a human. In these words there is reference to the
knowledge of rules of genetics. Regarding this, some knowledge has been gathered by man
because of research and many things are yet unknown to him. The research of spermatozoa
reveals that in this microscopic germ’s center there are a number of chromosomes of which
according to present knowledge is forty six and these are in the shape of twenty three pairs and
with them are genes which are composed of DNA. With different arrangements of DNAs that code
i.e. command or written Destiny is composed which has to determine all attributes of the person to
be born. The use of word “code” is also the Design of God because it is the translation of the word
“Yumna” as said “Yumna” means “Yuquddaro” ( ) i.e. to issue an order or decision about a
certain matter; that it will take such a form. The other meanings are to prepare a criterion or
blueprint for any thing that according to this map; form and shape it will be made. In there is also
meaning of limitation that is to fix a time that it will function up to such and such time and to
such extent is the estimate of the age; also what is expected and how far it’s powers will be useful.
Conclusively his shape and form, height and built, powers and capabilities; what will he inherit from
mother and what from father; all these matters are included in “Code”, which Allah the Exalted has
kept in the germ of sperm with His Design. Also the meaning of ‘Mani’ is opposite e.g. ‘Daari Mani
Daarik’ ( ) i.e. my home is opposite your.

“To be opposite” also signifies code or blueprint that some destiny is written in sperm and in
accordance of which and by following which the person adopts the shape. ‘Monina’ ( ) mean

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‘Waqfina’ ( ) to secure felicity for something so it also means that in the nucleus of germ all
these potentialities and felicities have been put which can help in the purpose of life of humans and
which he may need. It is written in Encyclopaedia:

“The fertilized egg cell is the beginning of the next generation and contains all the potentialities of
the new individual”

This connotation of “Yumna” and the code format by DNA and in it the Design of God which man
has observed so far; there is much more in this word. Allah the Exalted has told that whatever is
the destiny about the body of man He has embedded it like seed in his sperm so much so the
estimate of his age and felicities to attain; spiritual and moral excellences are also present there.
Human knowledge has not yet comprehended this reality fully. Maybe in future there is
advancement in it then man may grasp it what is in “Nutfatun Min Mani yen Yumna”.

( ) Fact is this that the attributes of spirit also manifest with the physical

body as said in verse of Surah Al-Muminun : ( )

“Suma Inshanaho khalaqan Aakhir” The meaning of “Khalaq Aakhir” is soul. Although it
is a different creation from the body but its manifestation is with the body.

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Note: This commentary was written by the author around 1980 A.D

Translation has been done with maximum care to convey the expositions as much possible except some
Arabic grammatical terms.

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