这些经文开始讲述人类被创造的故事。这是关于人类本性、真理与谬误及其基本要素的故事，讲的是亚当以及他被创造所用的物质，还有他被创造时及之后所发生的事。《古兰经》在前面的两章中已经提到过这个故事，即第2章《黄牛》和第7章《高处》。每次提及时都有其特定的目的，并以独特的风格和不同的氛围来叙述。因此，每次所突出的情节都不相同，所采用的手法和节奏也各异。

With these verses the sūrah begins to relate the story of man’s creation. It is the story of basic human nature, truth and error and their basic factors, the story of Adam and the substance from which he was created, and what took place at the time of his creation and afterwards. The Qur’ān has already referred to this story twice in previous sūrahs, namely Sūrahs 2 and 7, The Cow and The Heights. Each time it occurs it serves a special purpose, and is recounted in its own special style with a distinct atmosphere. Hence, the episodes highlighted each time are different, as are the approach and the rhythm employed.

在这三章经文中，这则故事都是以人类在大地上被确立为真主的代治者（哈里发）这一主题引入的。我们注意到，在第2章中，它之前的经文是：“他创造了地上的一切，供你们享用。然后他转向天空，将其造成七重天。他是全知万物的。”（2：29）而在第7章中，前一节经文说：“我确已使你们在大地上立足，并为你们在那里提供了生计。你们感恩的人真少啊。”（7：10）而在本章中，创造的故事之前是这样的陈述：“我在地上为你们以及你们无须供养的人安排了各种生计。任何事物的宝藏都在我这里；我只依照确定的尺度降下它们。”（第20-21节）

In all three sūrahs, the story is introduced with reference to the establishment of mankind on earth as God’s vicegerent. We note that in Sūrah 2, it is preceded by the verse: “It is He who created for you all that is on earth. He then turned to heaven and fashioned it into seven heavens. He has knowledge of all things.” (2: 29) And in Sūrah 7, the preceding verse says: “We have established you firmly on earth and We have provided you there with means of livelihood. How seldom are you grateful.” (7: 10) Here in this sūrah, the story of creation is preceded by the statement: “We have placed various means of livelihood on it for you, as well as for those whom you do not have to provide for. There is not a thing but with Us are its storehouses; and We send it down only in accordance with a defined measure.” (Verses 20-21)

在这些章中,创造的故事各自置于不同的语境之中,每一处都有明确的用意。在第2章《黄牛》中,重点在于任命阿丹为地上的哈里发(代治者)。世间的一切,连同其中的万物,都已交由人类使用:“你的主对众天使说:‘我要在大地上设置一个代治者。’”({2:30})众天使对这一任命感到疑惑,因为其理由对他们来说并不明显,于是他们被告知其中的一些方面:“他教阿丹一切名称,然后把它们呈现给天使,说:‘如果你们说得真实,就告诉我这些事物的名称。’他们说:‘赞美你超绝万物!我们只知道你所教给我们的。你确是全知的,确是至睿的。’主说:‘阿丹啊!你把它们的名称告诉他们吧。’阿丹告诉他们之后,主说:‘我不是曾经对你们说过吗?我知道天地间的幽玄,我也知道你们所公开的和所隐藏的。’”({2:31-33})接着,这一章讲述天使们向阿丹俯首叩拜,而易卜劣斯,即撒旦,却傲慢地拒绝。它还讲述阿丹和他的妻子原先住在天堂,后来被撒旦引诱,随后被逐出天堂、坠落到地上,以便他们承担代治者的职责。他们经历了这样痛苦的遭遇,之后悔罪,并祈求主的宽恕。

Yet in each of these sūrahs the story of creation is told in a different context, with a definite purpose for each usage. In Sūrah 2, The Cow, the point of emphasis is the appointment of Adam as a vicegerent on earth, which has been placed, with all its contents, at man’s service: “Your Lord said to the angels, I am appointing a vicegerent on earth.’“ (2: 30) As the angels wondered at this appointment, the reason for which was not readily apparent to them, they were told some of its aspects: “He taught Adam the names of all things and then turned to the angels and said, ‘Tell Me the names of these things, if what you say is true.’ They said, ‘Limitless are You in Your glory! We only know what You have taught us. Indeed, You alone are All-Knowing, Wise.’ He said, Adam! Tell them their names.’ When he had told them all their names, He said, ‘Have I not said to you that I know the secrets of what is in the heavens and the earth, and I know all that you reveal and conceal?’” (2: 31-33) The sūrah then relates how the angels prostrated themselves before Adam while Iblīs, or Satan, arrogantly refused. It tells how Adam and his wife resided in heaven before they were seduced by Satan and then their expulsion from heaven and fall to earth so that they could assume their vicegerency, having gone through such a painful experience and repented and asked God to forgive them.

“我确已用有声的粘土，即用塑造成形的黑色淤泥，创造了人。在他之前，我用烈火之毒造了精灵。”（15：26-27）这里开宗明义地说明了两种本性的根本差异。干燥的粘土敲击时会发出声响，原本是黑色的淤泥，经过塑造而成形；这与此处所说的炽热、猛烈吹动的火焰截然不同。我们后面会了解到，人的本性中还加入了另一种要素，即神将自己的灵魂吹入其中。而撒旦的本性，则始终是那炽热之风中的火焰。

“Indeed We have created man out of sounding clay, out of black mud moulded into shape, whereas the jinn We had created before him out of the fire of scorching winds.” (Verses 26- 27) At the outset the difference in the two natures is clearly stated. The dry clay which gives off a sound when knocked and which is originally black mud given a specific shape is totally different from the fire described here as scorching, blowing fiercely. We learn later that another element is added to man’s nature, namely, the breathing of God’s spirit into it. Satan’s nature, however, remained that of the fire of scorching winds.

你的主对天使们说:“我要用有声的泥土,即用经塑造成形的黑色淤泥,创造一个人。当我把他塑造完成,并把我的灵魂吹入他之中后,你们就向他叩拜。”于是,天使们全都叩拜了。唯有易卜劣厮不肯,他拒绝与叩拜者同列。主说:“易卜劣厮啊!你为何不与叩拜者同列呢?”他回答说:“我不愿向你用有声的泥土、即用经塑造成形的淤泥所创造的人叩拜。”主说:“你从这里出去吧!你确是被诅咒的。直到审判日,诅咒都将加在你身上。”(35-28节)

Your Lord said to the angels: I am creating a human being out of sounding clay, out of black mud moulded into shape. When I have fashioned him and breathed of My spirit into him, fall down in prostration before him.’ Thereupon, the angels, one and all, prostrated themselves. Not so Iblīs, who refused to be among those who prostrated themselves. God said: ‘Iblīs! What is your reason for not being among those who have prostrated themselves?’ [Iblīs] replied: I am not one to prostrate myself to a human being whom You have created out of sounding clay, out of mud moulded into shape.’ God said: ‘Then get out of here, for you are accursed, and the curse shall be on you till the Day of Judgement.’ (Verses 28-35)

这些经文始于真主对天使的训示。这些话是何时、何地、以何种方式说的，我们无从得知。《古兰经》和圣训中并没有明确的说明来回答这些问题。由于这些细节属于超出人类感知范围的领域，我们无法知晓，因此任何试图给出答案的努力都是徒劳的。人由干泥土塑造成形、并被注入真主之灵的创造过程，也同样如此。

These verses start with God’s address to the angels. When, where and how He said all this are details that we have no way of knowing. We simply have no clear statement in the Qur’ān or the Ĥadīth which answers these points. Since these details belong to the realm of what lies beyond human perception, we have no way of knowing them. Hence any attempt to provide answers is futile. The same applies to man’s creation out of a dry clay, moulded into shape, and infused with God’s spirit.

我们可以参照《古兰经》中关于这一问题的其他经文,尤其是第23章第12节:“我确已用泥土的精华创造了人类”,以及第32章第8节:“他使人类从卑贱的液体中繁衍后代。”根据这些经文,我们可以说,人和生命本身最初都源自地球上的泥土。这种泥土的基本成分,存在于人体和一切生物的身体构成之中。从原始的泥土到人被创造,中间经历了若干阶段,“繁衍”一词所指的正是这些阶段。仅就我们所掌握的经文而言,能够得出的结论就是这些了。任何额外的添加,都不过是加在经文上的多余负担,而《古兰经》并不需要这些。科学研究可以借助其所能使用的一切手段继续进行。它可以提出各种理论,这些理论或被确凿的证据所证实,或在无法证明时加以修正。然而,它不能得出与《古兰经》所陈述的事实相矛盾的结论。《古兰经》告诉我们,创造的链条始于泥土的元素,之后又加入了水。

We may refer to other statements in the Qur’ān concerning this point, particularly verse 23: 12, “We create man out of the essence of clay,” and verse 32: 8, “He causes him i.e. man] to be begotten out of a line of a humble fluid.” We may say on the basis of these statements that man and life itself originally come out of the earth’s clay. The basic constituents of this clay are found in the physical constitution of man and all living organisms. There are several stages between the original clay and man’s creation, and to these the term, line’, refers. That is all that may be said on the basis of the texts we have. Any addition is no more than an overload added to the text, which the Qur’ān does not need. Scientific research may proceed with whatever means available to it. It may advance theories which are then either confirmed by hard evidence or amended if they cannot be proven. It cannot, however, make conclusions that are in conflict with the facts stated in the Qur’ān, which tell us that the line of creation started with the elements of clay, and to which water was later added.

正是这股来自真主精神的气息，使人与至高的共同体相连，使人配得与真主接触、领受祂的启示，并从其肉身构成的物质世界，超越到心灵与思想的精神世界。也正是这股来自真主精神的气息，使人能够超越时间与空间，超越感官和身体能力所及的范围，形成各种认知，并体验时而仿佛无限的情感。

It is this breath of God’s spirit that provides man’s link with the Supreme Society, making him worthy of contact with God, receiving His messages, and going beyond the material world of his physical constitution to the mental world of hearts and minds. It is this breath of God’s spirit which allows man to go beyond time and space, and beyond the reach of his senses and physical ability to formulate perceptions and experience feelings that, at times, seem unlimited.

尽管人是由沉重的泥土构成的，这使他需要泥土之躯所必需的一切，如食物、饮水、衣着以及欲望的满足，但这一切依然如此。他也有自身的弱点，由此产生错误的观念和随心所欲的念头。然而，从一开始，人就是这两种不可分割的要素的复合体。他具有的是化合物的性质，而非混合物的性质。每当我们谈论人由泥土与崇高灵魂构成时，都需要牢记这一事实。这两个组成部分在他的本性中是不可分割的。在任何情况下，任何一方都不会取得完全的支配地位，从而完全排除另一方。即使是一瞬间，人也不是纯粹的泥土，也不是纯粹的灵魂。他的每一个行为、每一项举动，都涉及他那不可分割的整体构成。

All this despite the heavy nature of clay which puts him in need of all that his clay constitution requires, such as food, drink, clothing and the satisfaction of desires. He also has his weaknesses, giving rise to faulty concepts and whims. Yet right from the beginning, man is a compound of these two inseparable elements. He has the nature of a compound, not that of a mixture. We need to keep this fact clear in our minds whenever we speak about man’s constitution from clay and sublime spirit. The two constituents are inseparable in his nature. In no situation does either element achieve total domination, completely excluding the other. Man is not pure clay or pure spirit even for a single moment. Every single action and every single deed involves his whole make-up which is indivisible.

在泥土与崇高的因素之间取得恰当的平衡,是人被召唤去达到的最高境界。那便是人类完善的阶段。他并不需要舍弃其本性中的任何一种因素,以致成为天使或变为动物。若试图以一种破坏平衡的提升来达到目的,那便是一种缺陷,既不符合人的本质特征,也不符合他以这种独特方式被创造的目的。

Achieving a proper balance between the clay and the sublime elements is the highest level man is called on to achieve. That is the stage of human perfection. He is not required to shed either element of his constitution so as to become either angel or animal. To attempt a rise that disturbs the balance is a shortcoming that does not suit man’s essential characteristics, or the purpose of his creation in this unique fashion.

一个试图压抑自身基本生理本能的人，与一个试图压抑自身自由灵性力量的人是一样的。两者都超越了正直的人性，为自己施加了真主所不允许的东西。两者都通过扭曲其本性的基本构成而毁灭自己。他们必将为这种毁灭向真主交代。

A person who tries to suppress his basic physical instincts is the same as one who tries to suppress his free spiritual powers. Both go beyond straight human nature, imposing on themselves something that God does not sanction. Both destroy themselves by distorting the basic compound of their very nature. They will have to account to God for such destruction.

真主对天使说："我要用发出声响的泥土，用黑色的、塑造成形的淤泥，创造一个人。当我把他塑造完成，并将我的灵魂吹入他之中时，你们就要向他俯伏叩拜。"（第28-29节）真主所说的话立即生效，因为祂的话语表达了祂的旨意，而祂的旨意总是得以实现。我们无法追问真主永恒的灵魂之气如何与有限生命的泥土相融合。这类争论不过是无谓的游戏，实则是对人类理智的一种儿戏。它迫使人的思维脱离其本应运用感知、思考与理解能力的领域。过去和现在围绕这一问题所引发的所有争议，都暴露出人们对人类心智的本质、特性与局限的无知。这种争论只会迫使人的心智试图用人类的标准去衡量真主的创造工作，而这本身就是一个完全错误的前提。

God said to the angels: “I am creating a human being out of sounding clay, out of black mud moulded into shape. When I have fashioned him and breathed of My spirit into him, fall down in prostration before him.” (Verses 28-29) And what God said immediately took effect, for His word expresses His will, and His will is always done. We cannot question how the breath of God’s eternal spirit mixed with the clay that has limited life. Such arguments are no more than idle play. It is indeed a child’s play with man’s intellect itself. It forces the human mind out of its own realm in which it may exercise its powers of perception, reflection and comprehension. All the controversy that has been raised over this issue, past and present, betrays ignorance of the nature of the human mind, its characteristics and limitations. It simply forces the human mind to try to measure God’s work by human standards. It is an altogether wrong premise.

真主只是说明了这件事已经发生，却没有说明它是如何发生的。因此，这件事本身是人类理智无法否认的事实；然而，理智无法凭借自己臆造的任何解释来证明它，只能接受真主所说的。人是有开端的受造物，因此他无法去评判永恒者，也无法理解永恒者如何创造。当人的理智接受了这一点，它便不再把自己的力量耗费在徒劳的争辩之中。

God simply says that this has happened without saying how. Hence, the event itself is a fact that the human mind cannot deny. Yet it cannot prove it by any interpretation it invents, other than accepting what God has said. Man is a creature with a beginning, and as such, he cannot judge what is eternal, or how the eternal creates. When the human mind accepts this point, it stops expending its power in futile argument.

在真主下令天使向阿丹叩拜之后，发生了什么呢？"于是天使们全体叩拜了。"（第30节）这正是天使这一造物的本性：他们无论被命令做什么，都毫不争辩、毫不迟延地服从真主的命令。然而，与此同时，还发生了另一件事："唯有易卜劣厮除外，他拒绝与叩拜者同列。"（第31节）

What happened after God issued His order to the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam? “Thereupon, the angels, one and all, prostrated themselves.” (Verse 30) That is in the nature of this aspect of God’s creation, the angels. They obey God’s orders whatever they are, without argument or delay. However, something else also took place at the same time: “Not so Iblīs, who refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.” (Verse 31)

易卜劣斯属于另一种与天使不同的受造物。他是由火创造的，而天使是由光创造的。天使不会违抗真主，无论祂的命令是什么。而他却违抗了真主，拒绝了祂的命令。

Iblīs belongs to a different type of creation, separate from the angels. He is created out of fire while they are created out of light. They do not disobey God, whatever His command may be. He, on the other hand, disobeyed God, rejecting His command.

人类被创造并被安置于大地的故事值得详细的评述,但我们在此只简略涉及其中的某些方面,这也符合本章叙述它的方式。

The story of man’s creation and placement on earth deserves detailed comments, but we will only touch briefly on certain aspects of it, as befits the way it is told in this sūrah.

这一章经文清楚地传达了关于被特别创造的人类的信息。

The sūrah delivers a clear message concerning the special creation known as man.

他有着独特的构成，这使他拥有的不仅是与其他生物共有的身体机能。无论生命如何出现，生物如何形成，人都因《古兰经》中提到的另一种特质而与众不同，这种特质源于真主将神圣之灵吹入他之中。这种特质并非人类逐级、持续进化的结果，正如达尔文主义所宣称的那样。它在人类生命的开端、人最初被造之时就已存在。人从来不曾只是一个有机的生命体，之后灵魂才进入他的构成，使他成为我们今天所见的人。

He has a unique make-up which gives him more than the physical constitution which he has in common with other living creatures. No matter how life emerged and how living creatures came into being, man is distinguished by another quality mentioned in the Qur’ān, which derives from the breathing of the divine spirit into him. This quality is not the result of the continuous evolution of man, stage after stage, as claimed by Darwinism. It came right at the inception of human life, when man was first created. There was no time when man was only a living organic entity, then the spirit entered into his constitution to make of him the man we see today.

新达尔文主义及其主要倡导者朱利安·赫胥黎，已被迫承认这一伟大事实的一部分。在这一点上，它承认人类的独特性，以及人类建立人类文明的能力。然而，新达尔文主义仍坚称，这一独特的人类是从动物界进化而来的。

Neo-Darwinism, and its main advocate, Julian Huxley, have been forced to admit a part of this great fact. In this respect, it admits the uniqueness of man, and his ability to establish human civilization. Nevertheless, neo-Darwinism continues to claim that this unique human being has evolved from the animal kingdom.

很难将承认人类独特性的新达尔文主义观点，与达尔文提出的进化论核心概念调和起来。然而，所有进化论者都固执地坚持这一立场，并为其披上虚假的科学外衣。

It is very hard to reconcile this view of neo-Darwinism which admits the uniqueness of man with the essential concept of evolution advanced by Darwin. Yet all evolutionists adamantly persist with this attitude, giving it false scientific guise.

这仅仅是因为他们试图摆脱教会及其所宣扬的任何观点。犹太人一直鼓吹并推广这一观念，并将其认定为科学，因为这符合他们的最终目标。

This is only because they try to break away from the Church and whatever view it advances. The Jews have always encouraged and promoted this concept, endorsing it as scientific, because it serves their ultimate goal.

我们在评注类似的经文（第7章《高处》）时已经讨论过这一点。这里引用那些评注中的话，颇有益处：

We have already discussed this point when commenting on a similar text in Sūrah 7, The Heights. It is useful to quote here from those comments:

人之所以作为一个具有独立存在的受造物而出现，是因为真主将自己的灵魂吹入了他之中，这种独特的造化方式即是如此。由此，我们对人及其"根本需要"便有了一幅与一切唯物主义哲学截然不同的图景；这些哲学所衍生的经济、社会和政治学说，以及它们为人类生活所提出的一切观念与价值，都与此迥然有别。

The unique method of creation which led to the emergence of man, a creature with its own separate existence, is the fact that God breathed in him of His own spirit. This gives us a totally different picture of man and his ‘essential needs’ from those of all materialistic philosophies, with all the economic, social and political doctrines they produce and all the concepts and values they advance for human life.

这种认为人不过是由低等动物进化而来的高级动物物种的主张，是《马克思主义宣言》所倡导观念的核心，该宣言认为人的基本需要是：食物、饮水、住所和性。这些无疑也是动物的基本需求。人的地位不可能比这种观点赋予他的更加卑贱了。凡是源于人异于动物这一事实、即人拥有独特人性品质而应享有的一切权利，都因此被剥夺。他被剥夺了信仰、思想和表达的自由，剥夺了选择职业和居住地的权利，也剥夺了批评政府体制及其思想基础的权利。事实上，他甚至被剥夺了批评执政党的权利，以及批评那些地位比执政党还要低下的人的权利，比如那些令人憎恶的独裁专制政权中的暴君，这些政权把人当作一群羊来对待。毕竟，在唯物主义哲学看来，人与其曾经进化而来的动物并无两样。所有这些苦难，竟被冠以"科学社会主义"之名，披上了崇高的外衣。

The claim that man is nothing but an advanced animal species that has evolved from lower animals lies at the heart of the concept promoted in the Marxist Declaration that the essential needs of man are: food, drink, shelter and sex. These are certainly the basic needs of animals. Man cannot be given a more degrading position than what this outlook assigns to him. All his rights that are derived from the fact that he is unlike animals, since he has his unique human qualities, are thus denied to him. He is denied his freedom of belief, thought and expression, and his right to choose his profession and where to live, as well as his right to criticize the system of government and its intellectual basis. Indeed he is denied even the right to criticize the party in power, or those who are even less than the party, such as despotic rulers in hateful dictatorial regimes that treat human beings as though they are no more than a flock of sheep. After all, human beings, in materialistic philosophies, are no different from animals from whom they had at one time evolved. All this misery is then ennobled as ‘scientific socialism’.

基于人类独特而卓越的品质所形成的伊斯兰人观认为，人的基本需要与动物的不同。食物、饮水、住所和性并不构成人的全部基本需要。人的理智需要和精神需要同样不可轻视。信仰、思想自由、意志与选择也是基本需要，应当与食物、饮水、住所和性同列。事实上，这些其他需要的地位更高，因为这些正是人所需要而动物不需要的东西，它们彰显着人的人性。当一个人被剥夺了这些，他的人性本身也就被否定了。

The Islamic concept of man, based on man’s special, distinctive qualities, considers that the basic needs of man are different from those of animals. Food, drink, shelter and sex do not constitute the total sum of his basic needs. His intellectual and spiritual needs are by no means of secondary importance. Faith, freedom of thought, will and choice are also basic needs that must be placed in the same category as food, drink, shelter and sex. Indeed, these other needs are of a higher position, because these are the ones that man needs while animals do not. In other words, these are the ones that emphasize his humanity. When he is denied these, his humanity itself is denied.