وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِن صَلْصَـٰلٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ
Wa laqad khalaqnal insaana min salsaalim min hama im masnoon
اور ہم نے انسان کو کھنکھناتے سڑے ہوئے گارے سے پیدا کیا ہے
And we created the human being from dried clay, from dark mud shaped into form.
This description of the material — dried clay, dark mud given shape — is repeated word for word three times in the surah: here as God's own account, again when the angels are told what is coming, and a third time from Iblis, who gives it back as his reason for refusing. The same phrase ends up carrying both the making of a human and the argument against honoring one.