Al-Hijr 15:26
The verse lists three substances in sequence: "ṣalṣāl" (dry clay that gives a sound when struck), "min ḥamaʾin masnūn" (shaped, molded black clay).
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِن صَلْصَـٰلٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ
We created the human being from clay, from molded mud
Al-Hijr 15:26 · Translation: talal-itani
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Three stages: raw clay → shaped clay → hardened, sounding clay. The raw material of the human being is not liquid but a **mouldable mixture** — water + earth + organic matter. The verse is a classical Qurʾanic form of substance-and-stage description.
Observation
In models of astrobiology and abiogenesis (the transition from prebiotic chemistry to the living), a hypothesis is widely held that organic molecules accumulate and concentrate on **clay/silt surfaces** (Bernal 1949; Cairns-Smith 1985 — clay-based mineral catalysis). The mixture of water + clay + organic molecules offers a chemical environment suited to the pre-stages of cellular structure. The verse's description "ṣalṣāl min ḥamaʾin masnūn" (water + clay + form) names this chemical environment at the verbal level; it does not anticipate science but shows that observation runs in parallel.
Exegesis
Al-Rāzī (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb) reports two opinions on whether the three different words (turāb, ṣalṣāl, ḥamaʾ masnūn) describe different stages of creation or different aspects of the same thing. Classical tafsīr tradition leans toward a staged creation process.
Sources
Tafsīr: al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; al-Qurṭubī · al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Science: abiogenesis, clay-based mineral catalysis hypothesis (Bernal 1949; Cairns-Smith 1985).