Translation of the meanings Ayah 4 Surah An-Nahl - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 4

خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِن نُّطۡفَةٖ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٞ مُّبِينٞ

(4) He created man^[3211] from a ˹mere˺ drop and lo, he is an articulate, ˹ardent˺ opponent!^[3212]

[3211] This is another great sign of God’s wondrous omnipotence; the creation of humans, who most remarkably metamorphose from mere semen, “contemptible water” (77: 20), to a being who is fully able to articulate his thoughts and stand up for a cause (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “May man perish! How ˹ardently˺ Denying is he! *From what thing did He create him?* From a drop He created Him!” (80: 17-19).
[3212] The ones who are meant here are, especially, the Associators who deny God’s Ability over resurrection, argue against the Truth and are ungrateful for God’s favours and blessings (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Abū Ḥayyān): “Could not man see that We created him from a drop and lo, he is an articulate, ˹ardent˺ opponent; * he poses an example to Us, forgetting his ˹own˺ creation, and says: “Who gives life to bones when they are ˹but˺ crumbled to dust!”” (36: 77-78).