4خَلَقَ الإِنسانَ مِن نُطفَةٍ فَإِذا هُوَ خَصيمٌ مُبينٌMuhammad AsadHe creates man out of a [mere] drop of sperm: and lo! this same being shows himself endowed with the power to think and to argue!1Lit., "he becomes an open contender in argument (khasim)". According to Zamakhshari and Razi, the above phrase is liable to two interpretations:' In the words of Zamakhshari, "one interpretation is that after having been a (mere] drop of sperm, a particle of matter without consciousness or motion, man becomes highly articulate (mintiq); able to argue on his own [for or against a proposition], courageously facing - disputes, and clearly formulating his arguments: [and herein lies] an indication of God's creative power. The other - [interpretation] is that man is [prone to become] a contender in 'argument against his Sustainer, refusing to acknowledge his [very] Creator." Razi, on his part, gives his. unqualified. support to the first of these two interpretations, "because the above verses are meant to stress the evidence of the existence of a wise Creator, and not the fact of men's insolence and their proneness to blasphemy and ingratitude". However, in view of 36:77-78 ('revealed at a considerably earlier period), I am of the opinion that the above two interpretations are not mutually exclusive but, rather, complementary, inasmuch as this passage is meant to bring out man's unique quality as a rational being - a quality that may lead him to great heights of achievement, but may equally well lead him utterly astray: hence my free rendering of this profound elliptic phrase.