Surah Ar-Rahman 55:14
سُورَةُ الرَّحۡمَٰن · Medinan · Verse 14 of 78
خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ مِن صَلْصَٰلٍۢ كَٱلْفَخَّارِ
Translation
He created mankind out of dried clay, like pottery,
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'He created man from dry clay, like pottery.' Ibn Ashur and al-Saadi note the plain, humbling origin, 'salsal ka-l-fakhkhar', sounding clay fired like an earthen pot. The creature that reasons, argues, and boasts was shaped from mud. Ask yourself: my sense of importance, my pride, my certainty that I matter, all of it is carried by a body that this verse traces back to fired clay. There is a deliberate humility written into my very material. When my ego swells, when I feel entitled, superior, above others, this verse hands me my origin: a pot of clay given breath. Does remembering what I am made from quietly right-size what I make of myself?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Saadi, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ar-Rahman 55:14 is discussed in 5 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ar-Rahman 55:14 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.