And when the animal is the most complete of creations, and man is the most complete of animals and the cream of its essence, and the core of its reality and the secret of its purity, and is the clearest evidence of the perfection of power due to his being a gatherer of all that exists in the worlds, then his creation is more wondrous than the creation of others. Therefore, it is a clearer evidence of the perfection of the Creator and the necessity of dedicating worship solely to Him. He specified him by saying: ﴿He created man﴾, meaning this species which is characterized by being human in itself and what he perceives of his morals and senses, and what he is accustomed to from the offspring of his kind.

And when the Arabs used to consume blood, and Allah, the Exalted, had prohibited it because it is the essence of man and others from the animals and is the composition of life, if one eats it, the eater becomes accustomed to the creation of what is his blood. He said, acknowledging that He, glorified and exalted is He, built this abode on the wisdom of causes while having the power to create without any development in the causation: ﴿from a clot﴾, meaning [He created] this type from this thing which is blood, intensely red, thick and viscous, gathered as a clot. Likewise, the clay that is clung to the hand is called a clot. They acknowledge the creation of man from both of these matters. Thus, the verse is among the evidences of our Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding the use of the shared meaning in both of its meanings. Perhaps he expressed it to encompass the clay, so it would be - along with what is in it of the indication of the wondrous creation - an indication of the prohibition of consuming what is our essence from blood and clay before it transforms. So when it transforms, it is described as permissible because transformations have an entry point in permissibility in marriage and otherwise. And the reddening of the sperm is not a transformation because it was red before the desire was restrained for it. And perhaps the desire weakened from restraining it, so it descended [as red]. So when the blood transforms into flesh, it becomes of the kind that is permissible. Likewise, if the clay transforms by mixing with water into dates or grains, it becomes permissible.

And Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair said: When Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said to His Prophet ﷺ, "So what can make you deny the religion after this?" [Al-Tin: 7] "Is not Allah the Best of Judges?" [Al-Tin: 8] The meaning of this is: What could lead you to this after the matter has become clear to you and has been explained? He has been glorified and exalted above denying the accountability, and He has elevated His status above that. However, a matter like this, when it occurs, is like His saying, "If you associate partners with Allah, your deeds will surely become worthless" [Al-Zumar: 65]. Its ruling is clear regarding those to whom the address has been directed and who are intended by it from His community ﷺ, in terms of their lack of infallibility and the possibility of doubts and uncertainties affecting them. Thus, the interpretation of the words is: What could possibly lead you to hesitate or deny the matter of accountability, when it has been made clear to you what removes doubt and eliminates confusion? Do you not know that your Lord is the Best of Judges? Is it fitting for Him, being the All-Knowing, the All-Aware, to create your differing states in doubts after creating you in the best form? Is it good for Him to do that in vain? And He has said, "And We did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in vain" [Sad: 27]. So when He, glorified is He, established that the servants are indeed the Best of Judges, along with what has preceded that negates any suspicion regarding the nature of the truth if one considers and reflects, and the arrangement of the Surah Al-Alaq indicates what leads to [healing], and from it one knows the beginning and the end. It is His clear Book, which Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has made a clarification for everything, and guidance, and mercy, and good tidings for the doers of good. He commanded that it be recited so that they may reflect on its verses, and He said, "Read in the name of your Lord" [Al-Alaq: 1], seeking help through it, and soon your way will become clear and your guidance will be established. "Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to the worlds a warner" [Al-Furqan: 1]. Also, indeed He, exalted is He, knows His servants by creating man in the best form. "Then We returned him to the lowest of the low" [Al-Tin: 5]. And from him has resulted what has been previously explained, the divergence of the two extremes and the difference of the speakers. All of this is by His prior wisdom and will. "And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance" [As-Sajda: 13]. And He, glorified is He, has clarified to us the utmost goal that the most honored of His creation and the most noble of His servants can attain from the human kind. This is in what the two Surahs have clarified earlier regarding the state of our chosen Prophet ﷺ and His great promise to him in His saying, "And surely, your Lord will give you, and you will be satisfied" [Ad-Duha: 5]. And the virtue of the beginning of "Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast?" [Ash-Sharh: 1] is upon the preceding request of "My Lord, expand for me my breast" [Ta-Ha: 25] to what the verses of the two Surahs have indicated of His noble attributes. This is the highest rank that anyone mentioned can attain. Thus, the follow-up to that occurred with a Surah that contained an indication of the state of one who has made in the other context from the human kind, and that is the state of one who is referred to from His saying, "Have you seen the one who forbids" [Al-Alaq: 9] "a servant when he prays" [Al-Alaq: 10] to His saying, "No! Do not obey him" [Al-Alaq: 19], to reveal the disparity of the two ranks and the difference between the two states. This is the consistent habit in the books. And the explicit definition did not occur here as it did in the other context to match the intended meaning. Perhaps some who do not realize may object here that this Surah is among the first that was revealed, so how can your claim of its arrangement according to what was revealed later be correct? We say to him: Where was your objection in several Surahs that preceded it, rather in most of that? Otherwise, Surah Al-Baqarah is not among the Medinan [Surahs], and the requirement of our compilation here is based on what follows it from the Surahs according to the arrangement found in the Mus'haf of the community. It is indeed based on it and contains a distance from the Meccan [Surahs] that cannot be counted. For indeed, what you have forgotten is the reminder of what we have previously mentioned in the sermon that the arrangement of the Surahs as they are is attributed to the action of him, blessings and peace be upon him, whether that was by his instruction or by the consensus of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, as we have previously mentioned. So return your sight, and reconsider in the sermon your view, and Allah will grant us success in considering His clear signs and reflecting on His verses, and He will guide us in that which brings us closer to Him by His grace and favor - the end.