From 'Microcosm to Macrocosm'

"Muhammad could not have known these facts about human development in the 7th century because most of them were not discovered until the 20th century. Muslims and others are justified in concluding that these facts could only have been revealed to Muhammad by the One God Who knows all about us not only how we developed but how we live and function."
Professor Emeritus of Embryology Keith L. Moore concluding his presentation to a scientific conference in 1981.

An American scientist: What particularly impressed you when you first read the Qur’an in Arabic?
Dr. Maurice Bucaille: Physiology and Human Reproduction.
An excerpt from informal notes delivered by Bucaille in Chicago to a gathering of American medical doctors and scientists in 1987.

In his structural and textual analyses of the Holy Scriptures gastroenterologist Maurice Bucaille had finally come to definitive conclusions after decades of scientific scrutiny. Finding compatibilities (and incompatibilities) with modern science in those Scriptures was an arduous but rewarding task.

Bucaille’s discovery that The Qur’an and modern science are ‘intertwined’ has come as a full surprise to many; himself on the top.

Out of a hefty number of verses related to science and knowledge in general, Bucaille’s short list totalled about 200 verses directly related to various scientific disciplines such as astronomy, geology, botany, theoretical physics, and embryology among others. Having studied classical Arabic to be able to fully understand the Qur’an in its original language, Bucaille has always pointed out that “it is of paramount importance to combine the command of the Arabic language with the scientific knowhow in order to fully understand the meaning of those verses related to science”.
Here is a select of his discoveries;

In his search for scientific signs in the Qur’an, Dr. Bucaille had found out that precise mechanisms and clearly-defined stages of human reproduction are detailed in many passages. Those are described in simple terms and in strict accordance with what was to be discovered much later on.

Having categorized his scientific conclusions, Bucaille indicates thatfertilization is performed by only a very small volume of liquid. A factrepeated in the Qur’an 11 times as in verse 4, chapter 16:

He ‘alone’
has created man
from nutfa (a ‘mere’ sperm-drop).

The Arabic word nutfa comes from a verb meaning 'to dribble a drop, to trickle'. Here it signifies the sperm because the word is associated in another verse with the word sperm. Verse 37, chapter 75:
Was he not
nutfa (a mere sperm-drop)
from maniy (an emitted semen?)
Another verse indicates that the small quantity in question ends up in a 'firmly established lodging' (qarar) which obviously means the genital organs. Verse 13, chapter 23:
Then We made him nutfa (a sperm-drop)
set in qarar makeen (a well-established place).
Bucaille points out that although the words ‘qarar makeen’ are hardly translatable, yet they could read ‘a safe and firmly established lodging’. That is the spot where man grows in the maternal organism.
Indeed, it is We ‘alone’
who have created man
from a nutfa (a sperm-drop)
amshaj (of mingled fluid)
to try him ‘in life’.
Thus did We make him
‘a being
endowed with’ hearing
and seeing.
Amshaj is the Arabic word for ‘mingled fluid’.

Propelled by a certain medical enthusiasm, Bucaille continues to tell us about the spermatic liquid which is formed by various secretions coming from four glands starting with the testicles: the secretion of the male genital gland containing spermatozoon; the elongated cells with a long flagellum. Second gland; the seminal vesicles, are the reservoirs of spermatozoon. The prostate gland comes in third as it secretes a liquid that gives the sperm its creamy texture and characteristic odor.
Finally the glands annexed to the urinary tract: Cooper's or Méry's which secrete a stringy liquid and Littré's glands that give off mucous.
These are the origins of the 'mingled liquids' – Amshaj, the Qur'an is referring to.
There is, however, more to be said on this subject. When the Qur'an tells us about a fertilizing liquid composed of different components, it also informs us that man's progeny will be maintained by something which may be extracted from this liquid. The Arabic word, translated here by the word 'quintessence', is sulalah. It signifies 'something which is extracted, the issue of something else. A crystal-clear reference to what is known today as In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF.
This is the meaning of verse 8, chapter 32:

Then He made his progeny
from sulalah a ‘quintessence of’ humble fluid
drawn forth.

In consequence, it is difficult not to be struck by the agreement between the text of the Qur'an and the scientific knowledge we possess today of these phenomena.