2 Preface إِنّا خَلَقنَا الإِنسانَ مِن نُطفَةٍ أَمشاجٍ نَبتَليهِ فَجَعَلناهُ سَميعًا بَصيرًاAhmed AliVerily We created man from a sperm yoked (to the ovum)1 to bring out his real substance, then gave him hearing and sight. The first step in human reproduction is the forming of the zygot by the yoking of the sperm to the ovum, the union of two gametes. The next step is the formation of the embryo. In the Arabic text amshaj (root MSHJ) means mixed, joined or yoked. See 22:5 and 25:53-54, and notes to verse 4:1 and 25:53 to get the full picture. This has generally been translated as ‘mingled fluids.’