ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا ٱلنُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةًۭ فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةًۭ فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْمُضْغَةَ عِظَٰمًۭا فَكَسَوْنَا ٱلْعِظَٰمَ لَحْمًۭا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَٰهُ خَلْقًا ءَاخَرَ ۚ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ ٱلْخَٰلِقِينَ
Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of creators.
Introduction
This is āyah 14 of Sūrat Al-Muminoon (The Believers), the 74th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 18. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 74 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Muminoon (23)
(So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!) [23:14]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah al-Hafiz informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Hayyan> Muhammad ibn Sulayman> Ahmad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Suwayd ibn Manjuf> Abu Dawud> Hammad ibn Salamah> �Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud�an> Anas ibn Malik who reported that �Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be well pleased with him, said: �My words agreed with those of my Lord in four instances. I said: �O Messenger of Allah, why do we not pray behind the Maqam [were Abraham stood to pray]�, and Allah, exalted is He, revealed (� Take as your place of worship the place where Abraham stood (to pray)�) [2:125]. And I said: �O Messenger of Allah, why do you not put a curtain [to protect your wives from the gaze of men]?� And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed: (And when ye ask of them (the wives of the Prophet) anything, ask it of them from behind a curtain�) [33:53]. I also said to the wives of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace: �You had better take heed or Allah, glorious is He, will give the Prophet instead of you wives who are better than you�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (It may happen that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in your stead wives better than you) [66:5]. And when the verse (Verily We created man from a product of wet earth) [23:12] up to His words (� and the produced it as another creation) [23:14] were revealed, I exclaimed: �So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!� and the end of the verse was revealed as: (So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!)� �.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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