And verily We created man out of a dry [clinking] clay of malleable mud, that is, out of the four admixed elements, since ḥamaÌ is mud that changes and masnūn is that [mud] on which water is poured until it is rid of hard or rough particles that are intemperate and are resistant to the acceptance of the form that is to be conceptualised from it; al-ṣalṣāl is that [clay] which is penetrated by air and becomes dry by heating.