Qur’anic Root Ṣ L Ṣ L — Ṣalṣāl: Dried Clay and a Resonant Sound

1. Root Meaning and Word Structure

Arabic ṣalṣāl (صَلْصَال) denotes clay that has dried and produces a resonant sound when struck. It occurs four times in the Qur’an, always referring to the material of human creation.

Early Arabic dictionaries connect ṣalṣāl with ṣalṣalah (صَلْصَلَة) and ṣalīl (صَلِيل), sounds produced when objects strike or move: metal, bells, ornaments, and hard objects.

Lisān al-ʿArab states: الصَّلْصَالُ مِنَ الطِّينِ: مَا لَمْ يُجْعَلْ خَزَفًا—ṣalṣāl is clay that has not yet been made into fired pottery.

It also explains that the clay is called ṣalṣāl because of the sound it produces.

Al-Jawharī gives another explanation in Al-Ṣiḥāḥ: الصَّلْصَالُ: الطِّينُ الْحُرُّ خُلِطَ بِالرَّمْلِ—pure or fine clay mixed with sand. He adds that it sounds when dry, becoming fakhkhār if fired. Sand admixture belongs to this lexical definition; it does not establish a fixed proportion or formula for every use.

Al-Ṣiḥāḥ and Lisān al-ʿArab: dry clay, sand, and fired pottery

The account distinguishes three conditions: moist, moldable clay; dried clay capable of making a resonant sound; and pottery produced by firing.

Ṣalṣāl should therefore not be extended to every kind of soil or wet clay. The prominent features in the prevailing lexical explanation are dryness and the capacity to make a resonant sound.

Dryness does not mean that the material continuously makes noise. Sound ordinarily arises when the dry object strikes something or is struck.

The distinction matters for translation. Unexplained “sounding clay” could suggest a material constantly making noise. The intended sense is dried clay that produces a characteristic sound on impact.

Ṣ L Ṣ L (ص ل ص ل) is structurally quadriliteral, repeating Ṣ L.

The verb ṣalṣala follows faʿlala (فَعْلَلَ), while ṣalṣāl follows faʿlāl (فَعْلَال).

Its form resembles other repetitive structures, such as zalzala and waswasa. Repeated consonants do not, however, give every such structure one identical meaning.

For Ṣ L Ṣ L, the connection with sound comes from actual Arabic usage, rather than its four-consonant shape alone.

2. Ṣalṣalah: The Sound of Metal, Bells, and Dry Objects

Ṣalīl and Ṣalṣalah

Arabic ṣalla (صَلَّ) can mean “to sound,” with ṣalīl as its verbal noun.

Ṣalla al-lijāmu (صَلَّ اللِّجَامُ), for example, concerns the sound of a bridle and its metal components.

Lexical sources distinguish ṣalīl from ṣalṣalah.

A prolonged sound may be called ṣalīl; ṣalṣalah can express a sound that returns, repeats, or involves resonance and successive impacts.

Lisān al-ʿArab, quoting Al-Layth, says that ṣalṣala al-lijāmu is used when recurrence is conceived in the bridle’s sound.

It also explains ṣalṣalatu al-lijāmi as the bridle’s sound repeated or intensified.

The distinction helps identify this word family.

Ṣalīl can be prolonged sound; ṣalṣalah more readily suggests resonance or repetition.

This tendency should not become an absolute rule requiring every ṣalṣalah to consist of multiple separate blows.

Lisān al-ʿArab: Al-Layth on ṣalīl and ṣalṣalah

The shared feature is a clear, resonant sound arising from something’s impact or movement.

The Ringing of Iron and Ornaments

Early sources record ṣalṣala al-ḥuliyyu for ornaments making a sound as they move and strike each other.

Ṣalṣala al-ḥadīdu is likewise recorded for metal sounding.

Ṣalla al-mismāru describes a nail sounding when hammered.

The family’s sound-related field is therefore not limited to clay or pottery.

Metal, ornaments, nails, and dry objects can produce sounds described as ṣalīl or ṣalṣalah.

The name ṣalṣāl for dried clay is understandable within this field: when dry, clay can produce a sound on impact different from soft, wet clay.

The connection does not imply that ṣalṣāl was necessarily as hard as iron or metal.

The similarity concerns sound, rather than the material’s substance, composition, or strength.

A Witness from Labīd

Labīd ibn Rabīʿah describes the sound of metal components:

أَحْكَمَ الْجُنْثِيُّ مِنْ عَوْرَاتِهَا
كُلَّ حِرْبَاءٍ إِذَا أُكْرِهَ صَلّ

aḥkama al-junthiyyu min ʿawrātihā / kulla ḥirbāʾin idhā ukriha ṣall

Explanatory rendering, following nominative al-junthiyyu: “The armor-maker secured the armor’s rivets in its gaps; each rivet rang when forced into place.” Ḥirbāʾ here names an armor nail, rather than a chameleon. Transmissions also report ṣanʿatihā instead of ʿawrātihā and accusative al-junthiyya with another analysis. The supplied reading is retained here.

Lisān al-ʿArab and Al-Muḥkam: Labīd’s witness and its variants

Ṣalla concerns the sound of metal in this verse.

The witness attests the sound-related use of triliteral Ṣ L L in early poetry.

It does not itself use quadriliteral ṣalṣāl for dried clay, and therefore is not direct evidence for that Qur’anic use.

Its value lies in clarifying the sound-related field of the neighboring family Ṣ L L. Labīd lived across the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods; without an independent date, this verse should not be declared certainly earlier than revelation.

A Witness from Al-Aʿshā

Al-Aʿshā writes:

عَنْتَرِيسٌ تَعْدُو إِذَا مَسَّهَا الصَّوْ
تُ كَعَدْوِ الْمُصَلْصِلِ الْجَوَّالِ

ʿantarīsun taʿdū idhā massahā al-ṣawtu / ka-ʿadwi al-muṣalṣili al-jawwāli

Explanatory rendering: “A powerful she-camel that, when the driver’s voice reaches her, runs like a calling, roaming wild ass.” Al-muṣalṣil depicts a sound-producing animal, explained lexically as a wild ass, rather than dried clay.

Lisān al-ʿArab and Tāj al-ʿArūs: Al-Aʿshā’s witness and the calling wild ass

Lexical explanations connect this form with the loud, sharp voice of certain quadrupeds, especially horses or wild asses.

The witness shows that quadriliteral Ṣ L Ṣ L also had a sound-related use in poetry.

There is no reference to clay or pottery here.

The family’s sound meaning was thus known independently of the Qur’anic use concerning the material of creation.

Taken together, these witnesses show ṣalṣalah as an audible quality that can occur in metal, ornaments, certain animals, and dried clay.

The sounds need not be physically identical. Metal, animal calls, and pottery can sound quite different.

The language groups them through neighboring audible qualities, such as resonance, sharpness, or repetition.

3. Linguistic Forms and Other Meanings

Ṣalṣala and Taṣalṣala

Ṣalṣala is a quadriliteral verb for producing a resonant or repeated sound.

Its verbal noun is ṣalṣalah.

Taṣalṣala (تَصَلْصَلَ) describes something sounding, such as ornaments audibly striking each other as they move.

Muṣalṣil (مُصَلْصِل) describes something producing such a sound.

The forms are recorded lexically but do not occur in the Qur’an.

Ṣalṣāl

In Qur’anic usage, ṣalṣāl names dried clay capable of making a resonant sound.

It is the only form of this family used in the Qur’an.

Arabic also records ṣalṣāl of an animal with a loud or sharp voice, such as a horse with a thin, distinct call.

Ṣalṣāl thus serves both as a name of dried material and as a sound-related animal description. The coexistence of the uses does not establish the historical direction of semantic transfer between them.

That animal use is not intended in the human-creation verses: ṣalṣāl accompanies ḥamaʾin masnūnin and fakhkhār, and the subject is the material of creation.

Ṣulṣul and Other Names

Lexical sources also record al-ṣulṣul (الصُّلْصُل), with ḍammah on ṣād, for a bird. Some connect it with al-fākhitah.

Ṣulṣul is also recorded for a horse’s forelock, or in some accounts white hair on it, rather than the entire forehead generally. This form and forms such as ṣulṣulah also denote water remaining in a vessel.

Al-Muḥkam and Tāj al-ʿArūs: forelock, bird, and remaining water

Shared letters alone do not establish that all these meanings have one history.

A bird’s name may concern its call, but the same form naming leftover water need not derive from that water’s sound.

Etymological research need not force every recorded use out of resonance to complete one unified picture.

Does Ṣalṣāl Mean Only Dried Clay?

Dried clay is the clear, preferable meaning in Qur’anic usage.

Lexical sources nevertheless also explain ṣalṣāl as clay that has changed and become foul-smelling.

That reading is connected with ṣalla al-laḥmu, meat becoming foul-smelling.

Arabic ṣalla al-laḥmu can concern a change or deterioration in meat’s smell.

Some lexicographers and commentators use this branch to explain ṣalṣāl.

The possibility should not be ignored: it is recorded in the lexical tradition.

Preferring it for the Qur’an nevertheless requires examining context, especially ka-l-fakhkhāri in Al-Raḥmān 55:14.

If ṣalṣāl meant only foul-smelling clay, the comparison with pottery would be less clear. Dried, resonant clay, by contrast, naturally fits the comparison.

Dryness and sound therefore have stronger support in this Qur’anic use.

Al-Rāghib’s Al-Mufradāt: sound and the foul-clay reading

Change and an unpleasant smell can also concern ḥamaʾin masnūnin, but that phrase’s meaning should not be identified with ṣalṣāl without evidence.

4. Ṣalṣāl in the Qur’an: The Material of Human Creation

Ṣ L Ṣ L occurs four times: three in Al-Ḥijr and once in Al-Raḥmān.

Quranic Arabic Corpus: four nominal occurrences

All concern the material of human creation.

Al-Ḥijr 15:26: Ṣalṣāl from Ḥamaʾ Masnūn

Al-Ḥijr 15:26

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ

wa-laqad khalaqnā al-insāna min ṣalṣālin min ḥamaʾin masnūnin

Translation quoted in this study, rendered here in English:

“Indeed, We created the human being from dry, sounding clay, from altered dark mud.”

Ṣalṣālin follows min, referring to the material of human creation.

Min ḥamaʾin masnūnin follows.

The combination matters for identifying the material denoted by ṣalṣāl.

Arabic ḥamaʾ denotes dark, muddy clay in which water and earth are mixed.

Several lexical meanings are proposed for masnūn: altered, shaped, smoothed, or poured into a mold.

Their detailed examination belongs to S N N. One point is clear for ṣalṣāl: the verse discusses a material connected with clay and mud.

Ṣalṣāl here cannot therefore mean the sound of metal, an animal call, or an independent sound.

It denotes clay characterized by dryness and the capacity to make a sound.

The Two Occurrences of Min

The sentence uses min twice: min ṣalṣālin and min ḥamaʾin masnūnin.

The construction can indicate that the stated ṣalṣāl was from ḥamaʾ masnūn or originated in that material.

Grammatical analyses differ concerning the second phrase. It can explain ṣalṣāl, or the repeated preposition can express another syntactic relation between the descriptions.

The phrases are connected in either case.

One names ṣalṣāl; the other clarifies its material kind or background.

Their sequence alone should not become a claim that the Qur’an gives every stage of material transformation in chronological detail.

Moist clay can naturally be imagined drying into a harder, resonant material; the verse does not specify drying time, precise ingredients, or environmental conditions.

Ṣalṣāl itself does not name a particular chemical substance or scientific formula.

The verse speaks of the material of creation through words with tangible meanings familiar to its audience.

Al-Ṭabarī: ṣalṣāl and ḥamaʾ masnūn

Al-Ḥijr 15:28: Ṣalṣāl in the Announcement of Human Creation

Al-Ḥijr 15:28

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ

wa-idh qāla rabbuka li-l-malāʾikati innī khāliqun basharan min ṣalṣālin min ḥamaʾin masnūnin

Translation quoted in this study, rendered here in English:

“When your Lord said to the angels: I am creating a human being from dry, sounding clay, from altered dark mud.”

The same phrase, min ṣalṣālin min ḥamaʾin masnūnin, is repeated.

The sentence’s structure nevertheless differs from verse 26.

Verse 26 reports the creation of the human being.

Verse 28 presents the subject in the Lord’s speech to the angels, announcing the creation of a human being.

Ṣalṣāl means the same in both.

The difference between al-insān and basharan does not require changing the meaning of the material.

The next verse, Al-Ḥijr 15:29, speaks of proportioning and breathing into him of God’s spirit.

The creation account in this context thus extends beyond the initial material.

Ṣalṣāl itself does not mean proportioning, breathing spirit, or bringing life into being.

Separate clauses express these separate subjects.

The entire process of creation should therefore not be placed within ṣalṣāl’s lexical definition.

Al-Ḥijr 15:33: Ṣalṣāl in Iblīs’s Objection

Al-Ḥijr 15:33

قَالَ لَمْ أَكُنْ لِأَسْجُدَ لِبَشَرٍ خَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ

qāla lam akun li-asjuda li-basharin khalaqtahu min ṣalṣālin min ḥamaʾin masnūnin

Translation quoted in this study, rendered here in English:

“He said: I am not one to prostrate before a human being whom You created from dry, sounding clay, from altered dark mud.”

Iblīs is speaking.

He repeats in his response the material named in verse 28.

Lexically, ṣalṣāl remains dried, sounding clay.

The expression serves a different function in Iblīs’s speech, however.

The Lord’s speech identifies the material of creation; Iblīs invokes that same material to justify disobeying the command to prostrate.

The distinction matters: ṣalṣāl itself does not mean lowliness, worthlessness, or inability.

Iblīs uses the material’s kind to judge the human being’s standing.

Al-Aʿrāf 7:12 and Ṣād 38:76 likewise present his comparison of fire and clay.

A material’s being clay or fire does not establish a creature’s moral superiority or greater worthiness.

The judgment concerns Iblīs’s use of the subject, rather than ṣalṣāl’s lexical meaning.

Ṣalṣāl should therefore not become “base clay,” “worthless clay,” or similar phrases in the translation.

The word itself expresses the clay’s tangible material feature.

Al-Raḥmān 55:14: Ṣalṣāl Like Pottery

Al-Raḥmān 55:14

خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ

khalaqa al-insāna min ṣalṣālin ka-l-fakhkhāri

Translation quoted in this study, rendered here in English:

“He created the human being from dry, sounding clay, like pottery.”

This verse is especially important for identifying ṣalṣāl’s precise meaning.

Ṣalṣāl is compared with fakhkhār.

In established Arabic usage, fakhkhār denotes pottery made of clay and fired with heat.

They share a tangible similarity: when hardened, both can produce a resonant sound on impact.

The Qur’an does not say ṣalṣāl was identical to fakhkhār, but ka-l-fakhkhāri, like pottery.

Kāf marks comparison here.

Had the sentence simply named pottery as the material of creation, min fakhkhārin could have expressed that directly.

The actual wording instead compares ṣalṣāl with fakhkhār.

Lexically, the comparison can rest on dryness, relative hardness, or a shared audible quality.

Lexicographers also record a clear distinction: ṣalṣāl has dried but has not yet been fired, whereas fakhkhār results from firing clay.

Al-Ṭabarī: dry, unfired clay and the comparison with fakhkhār

The comparison therefore does not establish that the material of human creation was necessarily baked in a kiln.

That conclusion does not follow from the verse’s wording.

Is Every Ṣalṣāl Necessarily Pottery?

No.

Pottery is one familiar material made from clay, but dried clay need not be fired pottery.

Ordinarily, clay can harden and become brittle as it loses moisture; firing at high heat brings other changes to its structure.

Lexicographers likewise distinguish dried clay from fired pottery.

The distinction clarifies the Qur’anic comparison.

Ṣalṣālin ka-l-fakhkhāri concerns material like pottery, without requiring every feature of pottery.

A direct rendering can therefore use “dry, sounding clay, like pottery.”

It preserves both ṣalṣāl’s meaning and the comparison.

5. Differences from Ṭīn, Ḥamaʾ, Turāb, and Fakhkhār

Ṣalṣāl and Ṭīn

Arabic ṭīn names clay, a material formed by mixing earth and water.

Several verses speak of human creation from ṭīn, including Al-Anʿām 6:2, Al-Aʿrāf 7:12, Al-Isrāʾ 17:61, and Ṣād 38:71.

Ṣalṣāl has a more limited, specific sense than ṭīn.

Ṭīn can be moist, soft, and moldable. In the prevailing lexical sense, ṣalṣāl is clay that has dried and sounds on impact.

Every ṣalṣāl under discussion is clay, but not every wet clay is called ṣalṣāl.

The distinction prevents translating every Qur’anic expression for clay identically without regard to its particular description.

Ṣalṣāl and Ṭīn Lāzib

Al-Ṣāffāt 37:11 speaks of ṭīnin lāzibin.

Lāzib concerns stickiness and material cohesion.

Sticky clay can be moist and moldable, whereas ṣalṣāl in its familiar sense describes a dried condition.

The descriptions may concern different conditions of one material, but the two verses do not themselves give their precise chronological sequence.

Combining ṭīn lāzib and ṣalṣāl alone does not establish a fixed number of chronological stages, a drying duration, or a particular technical process.

Those conclusions require further evidence.

Ṣalṣāl and Ḥamaʾ

Arabic ḥamaʾ denotes dark, muddy clay.

Al-Ḥijr 15:26, Al-Ḥijr 15:28, and Al-Ḥijr 15:33 place ṣalṣāl beside ḥamaʾin masnūnin.

The combination connects the intended ṣalṣāl with dark, altered clay.

Ḥamaʾ and ṣalṣāl nevertheless are not complete synonyms.

Ḥamaʾ chiefly concerns the kind and condition of clay or mud, whereas ṣalṣāl highlights dryness and its resulting sound.

Masnūn also has separate lexical disagreements requiring examination under S N N.

The meanings of ḥamaʾ and masnūn should therefore not all be merged into ṣalṣāl’s brief definition.

Ṣalṣāl and Turāb

Turāb concerns earth, dust, and earthy material.

Āl ʿImrān 3:59 describes Adam’s creation from turāb.

Turāb can be dry, loose material; ṣalṣāl concerns a particular condition of clay that sounds after drying.

They should therefore not be treated as fully synonymous in translation.

Both may describe humanity’s earthly origin, but each expresses a different material feature.

“Earth” is broader; “dried, sounding clay” is more specific.

Ṣalṣāl and Fakhkhār

Material fakhkhār denotes fired pottery.

Ṣalṣāl and fakhkhār can resemble each other in hardness and the sound produced on impact.

In the familiar lexical account, ṣalṣāl has not yet been fired.

The comparison marked by kāf in Al-Raḥmān 55:14 fits that distinction.

Translating ṣalṣāl directly as “fired pottery” is therefore unsuitable.

“Dried clay” or “dried, sounding clay” is more accurate.

Ṣalṣāl and Ṣalīl

Ṣalīl concerns a resonant sound, such as metal sounding on impact.

Qur’anic ṣalṣāl names clay capable of that audible quality.

They share a sound-related field, but one names a sound and the other a material.

Ṣalṣāl should therefore not be translated simply as “sound.”

Min in the creation verses likewise indicates a material of creation, rather than an independent sound.

6. Conclusion and Translation Proposals

Ṣ L Ṣ L is a repetitive quadriliteral Arabic family whose principal branch concerns a clear, resonant, sometimes repeated sound.

Early witnesses use ṣalṣala and ṣalṣalah for metal, bridles, ornaments, and certain animals.

Material ṣalṣāl denotes dried clay producing a resonant sound on impact.

Sources also propose altered, foul-smelling clay, but the Qur’anic comparison ka-l-fakhkhāri strengthens the dried, sounding-clay reading.

The root occurs four times in the Qur’an, exclusively as the noun ṣalṣāl.

Al-Ḥijr 15:26 concerns human creation from ṣalṣāl and ḥamaʾ masnūn.

Al-Ḥijr 15:28 names the same material in the Lord’s announcement of human creation.

Al-Ḥijr 15:33 presents Iblīs invoking it to justify disobedience to the command to prostrate.

Al-Raḥmān 55:14 compares ṣalṣāl to fakhkhār, helping identify its material and audible quality.

The basic meaning remains the same throughout; four separate definitions are unnecessary.

Brief root meaning: A clear, resonant, sometimes repeated sound; ṣalṣāl denotes dried clay that produces such a sound on impact.

Meanings of Qur’anic forms and translation proposals:

صَلْصَالٍ — Al-Ḥijr 15:26: dried, sounding clay in the account of human creation. Proposed rendering: “dry, sounding clay.”

صَلْصَالٍ — Al-Ḥijr 15:28: the same material in the announcement of human creation. Proposed rendering: “dry, sounding clay.”

صَلْصَالٍ — Al-Ḥijr 15:33: the same material in Iblīs’s speech. Proposed rendering: “dry, sounding clay.”

صَلْصَالٍ — Al-Raḥmān 55:14: dried clay compared with pottery in condition or sound. Proposed rendering: “dry, sounding clay.”

The most suitable general Persian explanation is “dried, sounding clay.”

It preserves both the material’s kind and the feature explaining its name in the familiar lexical account.

It does not establish that the material continuously made noise, was fired, or had a particular chemical composition.

Nor should the material’s being clay determine human moral worth or standing. The Qur’an reports it within creation, while Iblīs makes the same feature a justification for disobedience.

The distinction comes from context, rather than ṣalṣāl’s lexical meaning.

The study’s central conclusion is that Qur’anic ṣalṣāl names clay characterized by dryness and the capacity to produce a resonant sound.

Ḥamaʾin masnūnin clarifies the material’s origin or kind; the comparison with fakhkhār highlights its tangible quality.

Translation and analysis should keep three matters separate: ṣalṣāl’s own meaning, the description of the material related to it, and the comparison used to make its quality known.

That distinction allows all four uses to be understood without adding unproven processes or removing the word’s tangible meaning.