Quran’s Verses about Creation of Man
Considering the meanings of the words in these verses is very important:
“Let the human reflect of what he is created. He has been created from an ejected drop of fluid, coming from between the back and the ribs.” (Surah At-Tariq, Verses 5-7)
Here are some of the words in these verse:
Ma’a Dafiq: A gushing fluid. As-Sulb: Very hard and solid and that is why the back of humans is called Sulb.
Tarb: The bones on top of the chest; an area between the chest and the spinal cord; the four top bones on the left and right part of chest.
At-Taraeb means two equal parts in the body. Quran interpreters have referred to a number of things such as the area between the two shoulders, the bone of chest and larynx, etc.
Some views of Quran interpreters about these two verse:
1- The word Sulb means back and the word Taraeb is the plural for Tariba which means white bone. There are very different views about the phrase “Bayn al-Sulb Wat Taraeb” (between the back and the ribs). Apparently it means that sperm comes out of an area in the body that is located between the bones of the back and the chest. (Allameh Tabatabei, Al-Mizan Exegesis of Quran)
2- Sperm comes from testicles and egg from a woman’s ovaries. These two in in the area in front of the vertebra between the Sulb (back) and Taraeb (lower ribs) beside kidneys.
3- Sperm is taken from all parts of the body. Sulb and Taraeb refer to the whole areas in the back and front. Some say the main part from which sperm originates is first the spinal cord that is in the man’s back and then the heart and liver. That is why the phrase “between Sulb and At-Taraeb) has been used. (Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, Nemuneh Exegesis of Quran, 26)
4- Sulb means back but Taraeb is the plural for Tariba and according to prominent scholars of philology it refers to the upper bones of the chest where the necklace is placed. (Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, Nemuneh Exegesis of Quran, 26/367)
5- The fluid that comes from the area between the back and front (two bones) in man. It has been used rhetorically. (Dr Rezaei Esfehani, Mehr Exegesis of Quran) 157/22)
6- Sperm comes from Sulb and Taraeb (thigh bones). All points and passages where sperm moves are in the area of Sulb and Taraeb (thigh bones). The glands behind prostate (whose secretions form part of semen) are in this area too. So it can be said that sperm comes from man’s Sulb and Taraeb. (Medicine in Quran, Abdul Hamid Dayab and Qarquz.)
7- Man’s reproductive are has been referred to as Sulb and woman’s has been referred to as Taraeb. (Professor Bukay, A Comparison between Torah, Bible and Quran/278)
8- Sulb refers to the strong pubic bone and the bones in the lower back, Taraeb refers to a soft and penetrable thing as opposed to Sulb. (Taleqani, A Light from Quran, 332/3)
9- Sulb is the bone in the back. Taraeb refers to the chest bones.
10- Before birth, the embryo leaves an area that is located between the back bones (Sulb) and chest bones (Taraeb). God, the Omniscient, uses the words Sulb and Taraeb to draw similarity between birth and the Resurrection Day as we get out of hard stones and soft earth when we leave our graves on that day.
