17وَاللَّهُ أَنبَتَكُم مِنَ الأَرضِ نَباتًاMuhammad Asad"'And God has caused you to grow out of the earth in [gradual] growth;1 and thereafter He will return you to it [in death]:This phrase has a twofold meaning. In the first instance, it alludes to the evolution of the individual human body out of the same substances - both organic and inorganic - as are found in and on the earth as well: and in this sense it enlarges upon the creation of the human individual "in successive stages" referred to in verse 14 above. Secondly, it alludes to the evolution of the human species, which, starting from the most primitive organisms living on earth, has gradually ascended to ever higher stages of development until it has finally reached that complexity of body, mind and soul evident in the human being.