Then was the beginning of this mixed creation and the four spirits: "Light, Fire, Wind, and Water." And Adam was spread ¹ from its clay, created from the affair of the World (al-Dunya) and the affair of the Hereafter (al-Akhira). The layers were composed; half of the thing was created above, and [half] was created below the Rock—and they are the Jinn, upon which is the stability of the earths. It is as if the earth were spread upon a Whale, the Whale upon the Water, the Water upon the White Rock, and the Rock upon the Air. Between the Air ² and the Rock, the Jinn are stationary there, the composition of the first layer ³ .

He created Adam and settled him upon the surface of the earth; He commanded him therein and forbade him therefrom. He placed his reward for [obeying] the command and prohibition in the Hereafter and the World. That which is upon its back is the Layer; from it is what God ordained for him and his progeny of food, drink, sleep, and the seeking of spouses. Furthermore, [He ordained] what He opened for them therein of its desires, adornments, diversions, and play. That is [the meaning of] His—the Almighty’s—words: {Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for hope} ⁴ . The enduring good deeds are: the enjoining of good and the acts of obedience to God Almighty they performed, and the abandonment of the blights of its [the world's] glitter, its spouses, its wealth, and its falsehood.