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**Article Three**
Concerning the origin and ultimate fate of the human body.
O esteemed one! It is known that the wise scholars have said:
The beginning and return place of bodies is earth, which is the ground. Indeed, the Exalted (God) has stated in His Eternal Word: “We created you from it [earth]; and into it you will be returned, and from it you will be brought forth again” (Tāḥā, 20/55). For as will be explained in subsequent sections, when the influence of the light of the stars causes the four elements (the primary qualities) to combine and mix, achieving a certain balance, earth abandons its form and becomes the form of a plant. Once it is a plant, it becomes either human food or animal fodder. In this state, whether bread or animal, the aforementioned forces perform their duties as previously described; the force of appetite draws the nourishment, the force of retention retains it, the digestive force digests it, the separating force separates the solids from the liquids, and the expulsive force eliminates the coarse superfluities through the intestines. These processes occur in the stomach within two, three, or four hours, depending on the strength or weakness of the body’s natural heat; this is called the first digestion.
Then, the remaining fluid portion is drawn to the liver, where the aforementioned forces perform the same work they did in the stomach, once again. There, the solid (thick) portion becomes four parts: one part goes to the spleen and becomes black bile, one part goes to the gallbladder and becomes bile, one part descends to the kidneys and becomes urine, reaching the bladder, and one part goes to the lung region and becomes phlegm in the chest. These conditions also occur in two, three, or four hours within the liver, depending on strength and weakness; this is called the second digestion. What remains in it then is pure blood, which flows to the head vessels and organs. The aforementioned forces complete their known work once again within the vessels during the specified time, which is termed the third digestion.
The coarser portions of the third digestion emerge from the channels as earwax, eye discharge, nasal mucus, hair, nails, sweat odor, and the filth of the organs. And if any of this coarse matter remains, it causes ailments such as colds, swellings, sores, and the like. Then, each portion of the fluid blood remaining in the vessels is apportioned to an organ, and the force of depiction depicts those portions with the color of the organ in which they reside. Meanwhile, the aforementioned forces perform their work once again within the vessels during that time; this is called the fourth digestion. The coarser part of this digestion replenishes the organ, diminishing through a kind of decay from the body, replacing the diminished portion and completing it. Perhaps it makes the body beautiful and plump with more flesh and fat. The remaining subtle essence is drawn to the male testicles where it becomes sperm, and when drawn to the female breasts, it transforms into both semen and milk (a readily digestible sustenance).
The essence of nourishment, which is sperm or nutfah [embryo], at a specific time unites with the female nutfah through sexual intercourse and enters the womb. There, after forty days, it abandons the form of the nutfah and becomes the form of a blood clot (alāqah). That is, it becomes congealed blood. After this state passes for forty days—that is, eighty days from the beginning—it becomes a mucus-like lump (mudghah), resembling a chewed piece of meat. When the third forty-day period is completed—that is, one hundred and twenty days later—bones, nerves, vessels, organs, muscles, fats, hairs, and nails appear. Once the fourth month is complete, all the organs of the fetus become distinct, and this stage's child acquires an animalistic soul, whose nourishment comes from the blood through the umbilical cord. Because the nutfah settles in the womb, it is under the influence of Zūḥal [Saturn] in the first month, then enters the care of Mūshṭarī [Jupiter] in the second month, then Marrikh [Mars] in the third month, the sun in the fourth month, Zuhrah [Venus] in the fifth month, ʿUṭārīd [Mercury] in the sixth month, and the moon in the seventh month. Thus, if a child is born at seven months, it lives; if it is born at eight months, it does not live, but dies. For at the eighth month, it enters the care of Zūḥal, which is cold and dry, thus its nature is mortality. If it is born at nine months, it lives because it is under the care of Mūshṭarī, which is warm and moist, so its nature is life.
The Exalted (God) has declared the path of human development from beginning to end, saying: “Indeed, We created man from clay [extracted and formed]. Then We made him a nutfah [sperm] within a firm place of settlement. Then We fashioned the nutfah into an alāqah [a clinging form], and then We fashioned the alāqah into a lump of flesh; and We gave it bones, and We clothed the bones with flesh. Then We produced him as a new creation. Thus is Allah, the best of creators.” (Al-Mu’minūn, 23/12–14)
The summary of all these details is this: The material of the human body is earth, which first becomes the rank of a plant, becoming either human food or animal fodder. Food and animal fodder become sperm in men and women. Then it becomes a nutfah, alāqah, and mudghah within the womb, endowed with bones, nerves, vessels, muscles, and fats. Afterwards, it is born with a soul, whether male or female. Upon entering the world, it either lives and becomes an adult human being or dies as a young child before reaching puberty.
However, only a fraction of a thousand parts of the elements of earth become plants due to the movements of celestial bodies and the light of stars. Only a fraction of a thousand parts of plants become bread and animal fodder. Only a portion of animals…
From the movements of celestial bodies and the mixture of elements arises man, and from all occurrences in existence, the purpose is the honorable emergence of the perfect human being (al-insān al-kāmil). All beings other than the perfect human being were created as servants and helpers to him. As it has been said concerning the noble status of our Master Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): "If you had not been, I would not have created the heavens." This meaning is known through this couplet:
Every year, a star from the sky of love shines upon the constellation of the heart.
Therefore, since the origin of the human body has been explained in these terms, it is clearly evident that its place of return is from that very source, according to the ruling "Everything returns to its origin."