Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:30
And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
**Sūrah al-Baqarah (2:30) — وإذ قال ربك ("And when your Lord said")**
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: وإذ قال ربك ("And when your Lord said").
Abū Jaʿfar said: Some of those who are credited with knowledge of the languages of the Arabs, from among the people of Basra, claimed that the meaning of His word وإذ قال ربك ("And when your Lord said") is: "And your Lord said," and that "إذ" ("when") belongs to the superfluous particles and that its meaning is omission. He supported the position which we have described from him with the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur:
*Fa-idhā wa-dhālika lā mahāha li-dhikrihi — wa-l-dahru yuʿqibu ṣāliḥan bi-fasādi* (And behold, and that has no savour left at the remembrance of it — and time causes the good to be followed by corruption.)
Then he said: and the meaning of it is: "and that has no savour left at the remembrance of it." And with the verse of ʿAbd Manāf ibn Ribʿ al-Hudhalī:
*Ḥattā idhā aslakūhum fī Qatāʾidatin — shallan kamā taṭrudu l-jammālatu l-shuradā* (Until, when they had driven them into [the pass of] Qatāʾida — driving them scattered as the camel-drivers drive the runaway beasts.)
And he said: the meaning of it is: "Until they drove them."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The matter in this case is other than what he said. That is because "إذ" is a particle which carries the meaning of requital (jazāʾ), and which points to an indefinite moment in time. It is not permissible to annul a particle which was an indication of a meaning in the utterance. For it is the same whether a speaker says that it carries the meaning of favouring, while in the utterance it is an indication of an intelligible meaning, or whether another says something about the entire utterance which he uttered as an indication of what was intended by it, while it carries the meaning of favouring. The one who claims the position which we have described concerning the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur — that "إذا" carries the meaning of favouring — has no intelligible ground for it. On the contrary: if it were omitted from the utterance, then the meaning which al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur intended by his words "Fa-idhā wa-dhālika lā mahāha li-dhikrihi" would be nullified. For he intended by his words "Fa-idhā" that in which we find ourselves, and what of our life has passed away. And he indicated by his words "dhālika" ("that") to what was previously described of the life in which he was, which has no savour left at the remembrance of it — that is to say: it has no savour and no excellence left, on account of the fact that time causes the good thereof to be followed by corruption.
And likewise is the meaning of the words of ʿAbd Manāf ibn Ribʿ: "Ḥattā idhā aslakūhum fī Qatāʾidatin shallan…" — if "إذا" were omitted from it, the meaning of the utterance would be nullified. For its meaning is: "Until, when they drove them into Qatāʾida, they drove them scattered." Thus his words "and they drove them scattered" pointed to the meaning of the omitted [element], and so one could dispense with mentioning it through the indication of "إذا" upon it, and it was omitted — as we mentioned earlier in our book concerning what the Arabs do in similar cases, and as al-Namir ibn Tawlab said:
*Fa-inna l-maniyyata man yakhshahā — fa-sawfa tuṣādifuhu aynamā* (For as for death: whoever fears it — he shall meet it, wherever [he goes].)
For he means: wherever he goes. And as the Arabs say: "I came to you from before and from after" — by which they mean: from before that and from after that. So too is it with "إذا," as the speaker says: "When (idhā) your brother honours you, then honour him, and when (wa-idhā) not, then not" — by which he means: and when he does not honour you, then do not honour him. And to that also belongs the words of the other:
*Fa-idhā wa-dhālika lā yaḍurruka ḍurruhu — fī yawmi asʾalu nāʾilan aw ankadi* (And behold, and that — its harm does not harm you — on a day on which I ask for a gift, or [on which I am] frustrated.)
This is similar to the meaning which we have mentioned in the verse of al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur. And likewise is the meaning of the word of Allah, exalted be His praise: وإذ قال ربك للملائكة ("And when your Lord said to the angels") — if "إذ" were nullified and omitted from the utterance, then the meaning would change from what it is with, and in which, "إذ" is.
If a speaker were to say: "Then what is the meaning of it? And what is it that 'إذ' introduces, while there is nothing in the utterance before it to which it connects?" — then it is said to him: We mentioned earlier that Allah, exalted be His praise, addressed those whom He addressed with His word كيف تكفرون بالله وكنتم أمواتا فأحياكم ("How can you disbelieve in Allah, while you were dead and He gave you life") with these verses and those which follow them, rebuking them, condemning their evil deeds and their persistence in their misguidance, despite the favours which He had bestowed upon them and upon their forefathers, and reminding them by enumerating His favours to them and to their forefathers — warning them by His power against treading the path of those of their forefathers who perished in disobedience to Allah, so that their path in His punishment would be trodden with them; and informing them of His graciousness toward the repentant among them, as an invitation from Him to them to turn back. Among that which He enumerated of His favours to them is that He created for them everything that is on the earth, and made subservient to them what is in the heavens — the sun, the moon, the stars and other of their benefits which He made into benefits for them and for the remaining descendants of Adam along with them. Thus in His word كيف تكفرون بالله وكنتم أمواتا فأحياكم ثم يميتكم ثم يحييكم ثم إليه ترجعون ("How can you disbelieve in Allah, while you were dead and He gave you life, then He will cause you to die, then He will give you life, then to Him you will be returned") is the meaning: remember My favour which I bestowed upon you, when I created you while you were nothing, and created for you everything that is on the earth, and levelled for you what is in the heaven.
Then He connected with His word وإذ قال ربك للملائكة ("And when your Lord said to the angels") to the meaning implied by His word كيف تكفرون بالله ("How can you disbelieve in Allah"), since that implied what I have described of His word: remember My favour when I did for you [this and that], and remember My dealing with your father Adam, when I said to the angels: "I am going to place a successor on the earth."
If a speaker were to say: "Is there a parallel to it in the language of the Arabs, by which we may know the correctness of what you have said?" — then it is said: Yes, more than can be counted. Among that is the words of the poet:
*A-jaddaka lan tarā bi-Thuʿaylibātin — wa-lā Baydāna nājiyatan dhamūlā* *Wa-lā mutadārikun wa-l-shamsu ṭiflun — bi-baʿḍi nawāshighi l-wādī ḥamūlā* (In earnest, you will not see at Thuʿaylibāt a swift, fast [she-camel], nor at Baydān, nor one that overtakes while the sun is still young, bearing in some of the side-valleys of the wadi.)
He said "wa-lā mutadārik" ("nor one that overtakes"), while there preceded it no verb in a form to which it would connect, and no inflected particle of the same inflection to which "mutadārik" could revert in its inflection. But because there preceded it a verb negated by "lan," which pointed to the intended meaning in the utterance and to the omitted [element], one could dispense, by the indication of what appeared of it, with displaying what was omitted, and the utterance was treated in meaning and inflection in the same way as if that which was omitted of it had been displayed. For his words "A-jaddaka lan tarā bi-Thuʿaylibātin" carry the meaning: "In earnest, you will not be a seer," so that he reverted "mutadārikan" to the position of "tarā" ("to see"), as if "lasta" ("you are not") and the bāʾ had occurred in the utterance.
So too is it with His word وإذ قال ربك ("And when your Lord said"): since there had preceded it Allah's reminding of those addressed of what had befallen them and their fathers of His handiwork and benefactions, and since His word وإذ قال ربك للملائكة ("And when your Lord said to the angels"), together with the favours which He enumerated for them thereafter and to whose places He drew their attention — He reverted "إذ" to the position of وكنتم أمواتا فأحياكم ("while you were dead and He gave you life"). For its meaning is: remember these of My favours, and these of which I spoke to the angels. And because the first [clause] implied "إذ," He connected with "إذ" to its position in the first [clause], as we have described of the words of the poet in "wa-lā mutadārik."
** للملائكة ("to the angels")**
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: للملائكة ("to the angels").
Abū Jaʿfar said: "al-malāʾika" (the angels) is the plural of "malak" (angel), except that its singular without the hamza is more frequent and better known in the language of the Arabs than with the hamza. That is because, in its singular, they say "malak min al-malāʾika" (an angel of the angels), omitting its hamza and giving a vowel to the lām, which would have been vowelless had the word been pronounced with hamza. They give it specifically a fatḥa, because they transfer the vowel of the hamza which is in it, upon its dropping, onto the vowelless consonant preceding it. When they pluralize its singular, they revert the plural to the origin and pronounce it with hamza, and say: "malāʾika." The Arabs do something similar frequently in their language: they omit the hamza in a word which has hamza, so that their speech in one case proceeds with the omission of its hamza and in another case with pronouncing it with hamza — like their saying "raʾaytu fulānan" (I saw so-and-so), where their speech proceeds with the hamza in "raʾaytu," but then they say "narā," "tarā" and "yarā," where their speech in [the form] "yafʿalu" and its counterparts proceeds with the omission of the hamza, until the hamza became anomalous therewith, despite the hamza in it being original. So too is it with "malak" and "malāʾika": their speech proceeded with the omission of the hamza in its singular, and with the hamza in its plural. Sometimes the singular occurs with hamza, as the poet said:
*Fa-lasta li-insiyyin wa-lākin li-malʾakin — taḥaddara min jawwi l-samāʾi yaṣūbu* (You do not belong to a human, but to an angel (malʾak), descended from the expanse of the heaven, falling down.)
And sometimes in its singular "maʾlak" is said, so that that is like their saying "jabadha" and "jadhaba" (to pull), "shaʾmal" and "shamʾal" (north wind), and what resembles them of inverted letters. Except that what is obligatory, if its singular is called "maʾlak," is that, if it is pluralized in that manner, it becomes "maʾālik." But I do not recall that they pluralize it thus in transmission; rather they pluralize it as "malāʾik" and "malāʾika," as "ashʿath" is pluralized as "ashāʿith" and "ashāʿitha," and "mismaʿ" as "masāmiʿ" and "masāmiʿa." Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt said in its plural in that manner:
*Wa-fīhā min ʿibādi llāhi qawmun — malāʾiku dhullilū wa-humu ṣiʿābu* (And in it are, of the servants of Allah, a people — angels (malāʾik) who are made submissive, while they [were at first] refractory.)
The origin of "al-malʾak" is "the message" (al-risāla), as ʿAdī ibn Zayd al-ʿIbādī said:
*Abligh al-Nuʿmāna ʿannī malʾakan — annahu qad ṭāla ḥabsī wa-ntiẓārī* (Convey to al-Nuʿmān on my behalf a message (malʾak), that my imprisonment and my waiting have grown long.)
And sometimes it is recited as "maʾlakan," according to the other dialectal form. Whoever says "malʾakan": that is [the form] "mafʿal" from "laʾaka ilayhi yalʾaku" — when he sent him a message, "malʾaka." And whoever says "maʾlakan": that is [the form] "mafʿal" from "alaktu ilayhi āluku" — when I sent him a message, "maʾlaka" and "alūk," as Labīd ibn Rabīʿa said:
*Wa-ghulāmin arsalathu ummuhu — bi-alūkin fa-badhalnā mā saʾal* (And a boy whom his mother sent with a message (alūk), and we gave what he asked.)
This is from "alaktu." And to that belongs the words of Nābigha of the Banū Dhubyān:
*Alikni yā ʿUyaynu ilayka qawlan — sa-tuhdīhi l-ruwātu ilayka ʿannī* (Convey on my behalf, O ʿUyayn, an utterance to you — the transmitters will deliver it to you, from me.)
And ʿAbd Banī al-Ḥasḥās said:
*Aliknī ilayhā ʿumraka llāha yā fatā — bi-āyati mā jāʾat ilaynā tahādiyā* (Convey on my behalf a message to her — by Allah's life, O young man — with the sign that she came to us walking gracefully.)
He means by it: convey my message to her. Thus the angels were called "malāʾika" on account of the message, because they are Allah's messengers between Him and His prophets and those of His servants to whom He sends them.
** إني جاعل في الأرض ("I am going to place on the earth")**
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: إني جاعل في الأرض ("I am going to place on the earth").
The people of interpretation differed concerning His word إني جاعل ("I am going to place"). Some of them said: "I am going to make (fāʿil)." Mention of who said that:
500 — Al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, and Mubārak on the authority of al-Ḥasan, and Abū Bakr — that is, al-Hudhalī — on the authority of al-Ḥasan and Qatāda, they said: Allah said to the angels إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor") — He said to them: I am going to do [that].
And others said: "I am going to create (khāliq)." Mention of who said that:
501 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Minjāb ibn al-Ḥārith, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, saying: Everything in the Qurʾān [where it says] "jaʿala" (He made), that is "He created."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning the interpretation of His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor") is: I am placing on the earth a successor and bringing into being therein a successor. That is more in agreement with the interpretation of the words of al-Ḥasan and Qatāda.
And it has been said that the earth which Allah mentioned in this verse is Mecca. Mention of who said that:
502 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The earth was spread out from Mecca. And the angels circumambulated the House — they are the first who circumambulated it — and that is the earth concerning which Allah said إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ('I am going to place on the earth a successor'). And when a prophet — whose people perished while he himself and the righteous were saved — came, he came with those who were with him, and they worshipped Allah there until they died. For the grave of Nūḥ, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ and Shuʿayb is between Zamzam, the Corner (al-Rukn) and the Station (al-Maqām)."
** خليفة ("a successor")**
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: خليفة ("a successor").
"al-Khalīfa" is [the form] "al-faʿīla," from your expression: "khalafa fulānun fulānan fī hādhā l-amri" — when he takes his place after him in that matter, as He, exalted be His praise, said: ثم جعلناكم خلائف في الأرض من بعدهم لننظر كيف تعملون ("Then We made you successors on the earth after them, that We might see how you would act") (10:14). He means by it: that He placed you on the earth in their place and made you successors after them. And for that reason the supreme ruler is called "khalīfa," because he succeeds the one who was before him and took the matter upon himself in his place, so that he became a successor to him. Of that it is said: "khalafa l-khalīfatu yakhlufu khilāfatan wa-khalīfan." And Ibn Isḥāq said the following:
503 — Ibn Ḥumayd related that to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor") — he says: an inhabitant and cultivator who inhabits it and cultivates it, a creation that is not of you.
But what Ibn Isḥāq said concerning the meaning of "al-khalīfa" is not its interpretation, even though Allah, exalted be His praise, only informed His angels that He would place on the earth a successor who would inhabit it — but its meaning is what I described earlier.
If a speaker were to say to us: "Then what was there on the earth, before the descendants of Adam, that cultivated it, so that the descendants of Adam became the replacement of it and the successors therein of it?" — then it is said: the people of interpretation differed concerning that.
504 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: The first who inhabited the earth were the jinn. They wrought corruption upon it, shed blood upon it, and killed one another. He said: Then Allah sent Iblīs against them with an army of the angels, and Iblīs and those who were with him killed them, until he drove them out to the islands of the seas and the recesses of the mountains. Then He created Adam and made him inhabit it, and for that reason He said: إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"). According to this statement [the meaning is]: I am going to place on the earth a successor, [coming] from the jinn, who will succeed them therein, so that they inhabit it and cultivate it.
505 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"), the verse, he said: Allah created the angels on Wednesday, created the jinn on Thursday, and created Adam on Friday. A group of the jinn disbelieved, and the angels descended upon them to the earth and fought them, and thus there was blood and there was corruption on the earth.
And others said concerning the interpretation of His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"): that is to say, successors who succeed one another, and they are the descendants of Adam who succeed their father Adam, and each generation of them succeeds the generation that passed away before them. This is a statement transmitted from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, and similar to it is what:
506 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, concerning His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة قالوا أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("I am going to place on the earth a successor. They said: Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), he said: They mean by it the descendants of Adam.
507 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Allah said to the angels: I wish to create on the earth a creation, and to place therein a successor. And Allah on that day had no creation except the angels, and the earth, upon which there was no creation. This statement bears what is transmitted from al-Ḥasan, and it may be that Ibn Zayd meant that Allah informed the angels that He would place on the earth a successor of His, who would judge therein among His creatures according to His judgement — similar to what:
508 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report which he mentions on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of men from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: that Allah, exalted be His praise, said to the angels إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"). They said: Our Lord, and what will that successor be? He said: He will have descendants who will work corruption on the earth, envy one another and kill one another.
Thus was the interpretation of the verse, according to this transmission which we have mentioned from Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās: I am going to place on the earth a successor of Mine who will succeed Me in judging between My creatures, and that successor is Adam and whoever takes his place in obedience to Allah and in judging with justice between His creatures. As for the working of corruption and the unlawful shedding of blood: that comes from others than His successors, and from others than Adam and whoever takes his place among the servants of Allah. For both of them [Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās] reported that Allah, exalted be His praise, said to His angels — when they asked Him: what is that successor? — He said: It is a successor who will have descendants who will work corruption on the earth, envy one another and kill one another. Thus He attributed the working of corruption and the unlawful shedding of blood to the descendants of His successor, not to him, and excluded His successor from that.
This interpretation, although it differs in the meaning of "al-khalīfa" from what is transmitted from al-Ḥasan in one respect, agrees with it in another respect. As for its agreement with it: the fact that its interpreters attribute the working of corruption on the earth and the shedding of blood upon it to others than the successor. And as for its difference from it: their attributing the succession to Adam, in the sense that Allah made him a successor therein, while al-Ḥasan attributes the succession to his descendants, in the sense that they succeed one another and a generation of them takes the place of a generation before them, and he attributes the working of corruption on the earth and the shedding of blood to the successor.
And what led the interpreters of His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"), according to the interpretation reported from al-Ḥasan, to say what they said concerning it, is that they said: the angels said to their Lord, when their Lord said to them إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة قالوا أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("I am going to place on the earth a successor. They said: Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), this as a report from them about the successor of whom Allah, exalted be His praise, reported that He would place him on the earth, and no one else. For the dialogue between the angels and their Lord was concerning him. They said: if that is so, and since Allah exonerated Adam of working corruption on the earth and shedding blood and purified him of that, it is known that He thereby meant others than him of his descendants. Thus it is established that the successor who works corruption on the earth and sheds blood is someone other than Adam, and that they are his descendants who did that, and that the meaning of the succession which Allah mentioned is only the succession of one generation of them by another generation, for what we have described.
But those who made this statement and the interpreters of the verse with this interpretation neglected the way of interpretation. For the angels, when their Lord said to them إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"), did not, in their answer to their Lord, attribute the working of corruption and the shedding of blood to His successor on His earth, but they said: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein?"). And it is not excluded that their Lord had informed them that that successor of His would have descendants from whom the working of corruption and the shedding of blood would come, so that they said: O our Lord, will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood? — as Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās said, and those of the people of interpretation from whom we have transmitted that.
** قالوا أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("They said: Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?")**
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: قالوا أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("They said: Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?").
Abū Jaʿfar said: If a speaker were to say: "How did the angels say to their Lord, when He informed them that He would place on the earth a successor: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ('Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?'), while Adam had not yet been created nor his descendants either, so that they might know with their own eyes what they would do? Did they have knowledge of the unseen (al-ghayb), so that they said that? Or did they say what they said of that out of conjecture, so that that is a testimony from them out of conjecture and a statement about what they do not know? — and that does not belong to their description; then what is the ground for their statement of that to their Lord?"
To that it is said: The scholars among the people of interpretation have made differing statements concerning that. We will mention their statements concerning it, and then inform [you] which of them is the strongest in proof and the clearest in argument. From Ibn ʿAbbās there is transmitted concerning that what:
509 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, saying: Iblīs belonged to a tribe of the tribes of the angels, who were called "al-Ḥinn," created from the fire of the scorching wind (al-samūm) from among the angels. He said: And his name was al-Ḥārith. He said: And he was a guard from among the guards of the Garden. He said: And all the angels were created from light, except this tribe. He said: And the jinn who are mentioned in the Qurʾān were created from a smokeless flame of fire (mārij min nār), and that is the tongue of fire which is at the end of it when it blazes up. He said: And the human was created from clay. The first who inhabited the earth were the jinn, and they wrought corruption upon it, shed blood and killed one another. He said: Then Allah sent Iblīs against them with an army of the angels — and they are this tribe who are called "al-Ḥinn" — and Iblīs and those who were with him killed them, until he drove them out to the islands of the seas and the recesses of the mountains. When Iblīs did that, he became conceited within himself and said: I have accomplished something that no one has accomplished. He said: Then Allah saw that in his heart, while the angels who were with him did not see it. Then Allah said to the angels who were with him: إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"). Thereupon the angels said, answering Him: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), as the jinn wrought corruption and shed blood? And we were sent against them only for that reason. He said: إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("I know what you do not know"). He says: I have seen in the heart of Iblīs what you have not seen of his arrogance and conceit. He said: Then He gave the command concerning the earth of Adam, and it was gathered up, and Allah created Adam from clinging clay (ṭīn lāzib) — and "al-lāzib" is the clinging, hard [clay] of black, moulded, stinking mud. He said: And it was mud only moulded after [ordinary] dust. He said: And He created Adam from it with His hand. He said: He remained forty nights a cast-down body, and Iblīs came to him and struck him with his foot, so that it rang — that is to say: it made a sound. He said: That is the word of Allah: من صلصال كالفخار ("from ringing clay like pottery") (55:14). He says: like the inflated thing that is not solid. He said: Then he entered his mouth and came out of his rear, and entered his rear and came out of his mouth, and then said: You are nothing! — on account of the ringing — and for something you have been created! If I gain power over you, I will surely destroy you, and if you gain power over me, I will surely disobey you. He said: When Allah breathed of His spirit into him, the breathing came from the side of his head, and nothing of it flowed through his body without becoming flesh and blood. When the breathing reached his navel, he looked at his body, and what he saw of its beauty pleased him, and he made to rise but could not — and that is the word of Allah: وكان الإنسان عجولا ("And the human is hasty") (17:11). He said: impatient, without patience in prosperity or adversity. He said: When the breathing was completed in his body, he sneezed and said: "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds," by the inspiration of Allah, the Exalted. Allah said to him: May Allah have mercy on you, O Adam. He said: Then Allah said to the angels who were with Iblīs in particular, not to the angels who were in the heavens: Prostrate to Adam! And they all prostrated together, except Iblīs — he refused and was arrogant on account of what he had conceived within himself of arrogance and conceit, and he said: I will not prostrate to him, while I am better than he, older in years and stronger in creation; You created me from fire and him from clay. He says: that fire is stronger than clay. He said: When Iblīs refused to prostrate, Allah caused him to despair (ablasahu) and caused him to despair of all good, and made him a banished devil (shayṭān rajīm), as a punishment for his disobedience. Then He taught Adam all the names, and those are these names by which people know one another: human, animal, earth, plain, sea, mountain, donkey and what resembles them of kinds and others. Then He displayed these names to those angels — that is to say the angels who were with Iblīs, who were created from the fire of the scorching wind — and said to them: أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء ("Inform Me of the names of these"). He says: report to Me the names of these إن كنتم صادقين ("if you are truthful"): if you know that I will not place on the earth a successor. He said: When the angels knew Allah's rebuke of them concerning what they had spoken out of knowledge of the unseen which no one knows except Him and of which they had no knowledge, they said: سبحانك ("Glory be to You"), as a purification of Allah from [the notion] that anyone other than He should know the unseen, تبنا إليك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا ("we have turned to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us"), as an exoneration of themselves from knowledge of the unseen, except what You have taught us, as You taught Adam. He said: يا آدم أنبئهم بأسمائهم ("O Adam, inform them of their names"). He says: report to them their names. فلما أنبأهم بأسمائهم قال ألم أقل لكم ("So when he informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you"), O angels in particular, إني أعلم غيب السموات والأرض ("that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth"), and no one other than I knows it, وأعلم ما تبدون ("and I know what you reveal"). He says: what you display, وما كنتم تكتمون ("and what you used to conceal"). He says: I know the secret as I know the public — He means what Iblīs concealed within himself of arrogance and conceit.
This transmission from Ibn ʿAbbās reports that the word of Allah, exalted be His praise: وإذ قال ربك للملائكة إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("And when your Lord said to the angels: I am going to place on the earth a successor") is an address from Allah, exalted be His praise, to a specific group of the angels, not to all of them, and that those of the angels to whom that was said in particular were the tribe of Iblīs, who with him fought the jinn of the earth before the creation of Adam. And that Allah only singled them out with that statement as a trial and testing from Him of them, in order to make them know the limitedness of their knowledge and the excellence over them of many who are weaker in creation than they among His creatures, and that His honouring is not attained by strength of bodies and firmness of constitution as Iblīs, the enemy of Allah, supposed. And it makes clear that their statement to their Lord أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?") was a lapse on their part and a guessing at the unseen, and that Allah, exalted be His praise, pointed out to them the reprehensibleness of what they had spoken of that and halted them at it until they repented and turned to Him from what they had said and spoken of guessing at the unseen by conjectures, and exonerated themselves before Him from [the notion] that anyone other than He knows the unseen, and He showed them of Iblīs what he had concealed of arrogance, which had been hidden from them.
And from Ibn ʿAbbās the opposite of this transmission is transmitted, and that is what:
510 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report which he mentions on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of men from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: When Allah had finished creating what He willed, He rose above the Throne and appointed Iblīs over the dominion of the lowest heaven. And he belonged to a tribe of the angels who were called "al-jinn" — and they were called "al-jinn" only because they were the guards of the Garden (al-janna). And Iblīs, besides his dominion, was a guard. Then arrogance arose in his breast, and he said: Allah has given me this only on account of an excellence which I have — thus said Mūsā ibn Hārūn; and another related this to me and said: "on account of an excellence which I have over the angels." When that arrogance arose in his soul, Allah saw that of him, and Allah said to the angels: إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"). They said: Our Lord, and what will that successor be? He said: He will have descendants who will work corruption on the earth, envy one another and kill one another. قالوا ("They said"): our Lord, أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ونحن نسبح بحمدك ونقدس لك قال إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You? He said: I know what you do not know") — He means concerning the matter of Iblīs.
Then He sent Jibrīl to the earth to bring him clay from it. But the earth said: I seek refuge with Allah from you, that you should diminish me or disfigure me! So he returned without taking [anything] and said: Lord, she sought refuge with You, so I granted her protection. Then Allah sent Mīkāʾīl, and she sought refuge against him, and he granted her protection, and he returned and said as Jibrīl had said. Then He sent the Angel of Death (malak al-mawt), and she sought refuge against him, but he said: And I seek refuge with Allah from returning without carrying out His command. So he took from the surface of the earth and mixed, and he did not take from one place, but took from red, white and black earth — and for that reason the descendants of Adam came forth differing. Then he ascended with it and moistened the earth until it became clinging clay — and "al-lāzib" is that one part of which clings to another — and it was then left until it stank and changed, and that is when He says من حمأ مسنون ("from moulded mud") (15:28). He said: stinking. Then He said to the angels إني خالق بشرا من طين فإذا سويته ونفخت فيه من روحي فقعوا له ساجدين ("I am going to create a human from clay; so when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration") (38:71-72). Thus Allah created him with His two hands, so that Iblīs would not be arrogant toward him, so that He could say to him: Are you arrogant toward what I made with My hands, while I am not arrogant toward it? Thus He created him as a human, and he was a body of clay for forty years, of the order of a Friday. Then the angels passed by him and were alarmed at him when they saw him, and the most alarmed of them was Iblīs. He passed by and struck him, and the body made a sound as pottery makes a sound and acquired a ringing — and that is when He says من صلصال كالفخار ("from ringing clay like pottery") (55:14). And he said: For a [particular] matter you have been created! And he entered him and came out of his rear, and said to the angels: Do not be afraid of this one, for your Lord is eternal (ṣamad) and this one is hollow. If I gain power over him, I will surely destroy him! When the time came at which Allah, exalted be His praise, willed to breathe the spirit into him, He said to the angels: When I have breathed of My spirit into him, then prostrate to him! When the spirit was breathed into him and the spirit entered his head, he sneezed, and the angels said to him: Say "All praise is due to Allah"! And he said: "All praise is due to Allah." Allah said to him: May your Lord have mercy on you! When the spirit entered his eyes, he looked at the fruits of the Garden, and when it entered his interior, he craved the food, and he leapt up before the spirit reached his feet, hastening toward the fruits of the Garden — and that is when He says خلق الإنسان من عجل ("The human was created from haste") (21:37). Then the angels prostrated all together, except Iblīs — he refused to be among those who prostrated — that is to say: he was arrogant and was among the disbelievers. Allah said to him: ما منعك أن تسجد ("What prevented you from prostrating"), when I commanded you, لما خلقت بيدي قال أنا خير منه ("to what I created with My two hands? He said: I am better than he") — I would not prostrate to a human whom You created from clay. Allah said to him: اخرج منها فما يكون لك ("Go out of it, for it is not for you") — that is to say: it does not befit you — أن تتكبر فيها فاخرج إنك من الصاغرين ("to be arrogant therein; so go out, indeed you are among the lowly") — and "al-ṣaghār" is humiliation. He said: And He taught Adam all the names, then He displayed the creation to the angels and said: أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful") that the descendants of Adam will work corruption on the earth and shed blood. Then they said to Him: سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا إنك أنت العليم الحكيم ("Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us; indeed You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise"). Allah [said]: قال يا آدم أنبئهم بأسمائهم فلما أنبأهم بأسمائهم قال ألم أقل لكم إني أعلم غيب السموات والأرض وأعلم ما تبدون وما كنتم تكتمون ("He said: O Adam, inform them of their names. So when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and know what you reveal and what you used to conceal?"). He said: Their statement أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein?") — that is what they revealed; and "I know what you used to conceal" — He means what Iblīs concealed within himself of arrogance.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The beginning of this report differs in its meaning from the meaning of the transmission which is transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās by way of the transmission of al-Ḍaḥḥāk which we have already mentioned before this, and it agrees in its end with the meaning of it. For at its beginning it is mentioned that the angels asked their Lord: what is that successor? — when He said to them إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor") — and He answered them that he would have descendants who would work corruption on the earth, envy one another and kill one another. Then the angels said at that point: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"). Thus the statement of the angels, that which they said of it to their Lord, was after Allah's informing them that that would come from the descendants of the successor whom He would place on the earth. That is a meaning whose beginning differs from the meaning of the report of al-Ḍaḥḥāk which we have mentioned. And as for its agreement with it in its end: that is their statement in the interpretation of His word أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful") that the descendants of Adam will work corruption on the earth and shed blood, and that the angels, when their Lord said that to them, said, as an exoneration from knowledge of the unseen: سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا إنك أنت العليم الحكيم ("Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us; indeed You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise").
Whoever deeply considers this among the people of understanding knows that its beginning invalidates its end, and that its end nullifies the meaning of its beginning. For if Allah, exalted be His praise, had informed the angels that the descendants of the successor whom He would place on the earth would work corruption upon it and shed blood, and the angels then said to their Lord أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), then there is no ground for rebuking them for the fact that they reported about the one of whom Allah had informed them that he would work corruption on the earth and shed blood, with the same that their Lord had informed them about them, so that it could be said to them concerning the knowledges that were kept hidden from them: "if you are truthful in what you know through Allah's informing you that it would happen of the matters, so that you reported it — then inform us of what Allah has kept hidden from you the knowledge of, as you have informed us of what Allah has shown you." On the contrary, that is an invalid interpretation and an imputation against Allah of what may not exist as a description of Him.
And I fear that one of the transmitters of this report is the one who erred concerning which of the companions he transmitted it from, and that the interpretation of them was thus: "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful in what you supposed you had understood of knowledge through My informing you that the descendants of Adam will work corruption on the earth and shed blood, until you ventured to say: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ('Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?')." Thus the rebuke falls upon what they supposed they had understood through Allah's words to them that he would have descendants who would work corruption on the earth and shed blood, not upon their reporting of what Allah had informed them would happen. For Allah, exalted be His praise, although He informed them of what would come from some of the descendants of His successor on the earth of working corruption and shedding blood, had kept hidden from them the report about what would come from many of them of their obedience to their Lord, their doing good on His earth, the sparing of blood, and His raising of their rank and their honour with Him — He did not inform them of that. Then the angels said أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?") out of a supposition of theirs, on the basis of the interpretation of these two reports which I have mentioned, the outward sense of which is that all the descendants of the successor whom He would place on the earth would work corruption upon it and shed blood upon it. Then Allah said to them, when He had taught Adam all the names: أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful") that you know that all the descendants of Adam will work corruption on the earth and shed blood, as you supposed within yourselves — as a censure from Him, exalted be His praise, of their statement of what they said of that about all and in general, while it is the description of a specific group of the descendants of the successor among them.
This which we have mentioned is a description from our side of the interpretation of the report, not the statement which we choose in the interpretation of the verse. And among that which points to what we have mentioned concerning understanding the report of the angels about the working of corruption of the descendants of the successor and their shedding of blood in a general sense, is what:
511 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sābiṭ, [concerning] His word أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), he said: They mean human beings.
And others said concerning that what:
512 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] His word وإذ قال ربك للملائكة إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("And when your Lord said to the angels: I am going to place on the earth a successor") — He consulted the angels concerning the creation of Adam, and they said: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?") — and the angels knew of Allah's knowledge that nothing is more detestable to Allah than the shedding of blood and the working of corruption on the earth — ونحن نسبح بحمدك ونقدس لك قال إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You? He said: I know what you do not know"). For in the knowledge of Allah, exalted be His praise, it was that from that successor there would come prophets, messengers, righteous people and inhabitants of the Garden. He said: And it has been transmitted to us that Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: When Allah began the creation of Adam, the angels said: Allah will not create any creation that is more honourable to Him than we, nor more knowledgeable than we! Then they were tried with the creation of Adam, and every creation is tried, as the heavens and the earth were tried with obedience, for Allah said: ائتيا طوعا أو كرها قالتا أتينا طائعين ("Come, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly") (41:11).
This report of Qatāda points out that Qatāda was of the opinion that the angels said what they said of their statement أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?") without prior certain knowledge on their part that that would happen, but on the basis of an opinion of theirs and a supposition, and that Allah, exalted be His praise, censured that of their statement and refuted what they thought with His word إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("I know what you do not know") — namely that from the descendants of that successor there would come prophets, messengers and those diligent in obedience to Allah.
And from Qatāda the opposite of this interpretation is transmitted, and that is what:
513 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] His word أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein?"), he said: Allah had informed them that, when there would be a creation on the earth, they would work corruption upon it and shed blood, and that is His word أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein?").
And like the words of Qatāda spoke a group of the people of interpretation, among them al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī.
514 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, and Mubārak on the authority of al-Ḥasan, and Abū Bakr on the authority of al-Ḥasan, and Qatāda, both of them said: Allah said to His angels إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor") — He said to them: I am going to do [that]. Then they put forward their opinion, and He taught them a knowledge and kept hidden from them a knowledge which He knew and which they did not know. So they said, on the basis of the knowledge which He had taught them: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?") — and the angels had known of Allah's knowledge that there is no sin greater with Allah than the shedding of blood — ونحن نسبح بحمدك ونقدس لك قال إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You? He said: I know what you do not know"). When He began the creation of Adam, the angels whispered among themselves and said: Let our Lord create what He will create, He will not create any creation but that we will be more knowledgeable than they and more honourable to Him than they. When He created him and breathed of His spirit into him, He commanded them to prostrate to him, on account of what they had said, and thus He preferred him over them. Then they knew that they were not better than he, and they said: If we are not better than he, then we are nonetheless more knowledgeable than he, for we were before him, and the [earlier] kinds were created before him. When they became conceited through their knowledge, they were tried: فعلم آدم الأسماء كلها ثم عرضهم على الملائكة فقال أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("And He taught Adam all the names, then He displayed them to the angels and said: Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful") that I do not create any creation but that you are more knowledgeable than they — then inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful! He said: Then the people fled to repentance — and to it flees every believer — and they said: سبحانك لا علم لنا إلا ما علمتنا إنك أنت العليم الحكيم قال يا آدم أنبئهم بأسمائهم فلما أنبأهم بأسمائهم قال ألم أقل لكم إني أعلم غيب السموات والأرض وأعلم ما تبدون وما كنتم تكتمون ("Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us; indeed You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. He said: O Adam, inform them of their names. So when he had informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and know what you reveal and what you used to conceal?") — on account of their statement: Let our Lord create what He will, He will not create any creation that is more honourable to Him than we, nor more knowledgeable than we. He said: He taught him the name of every thing — these mountains and these mules, the camels, the jinn, the wild beasts — and he began to call each thing by its name, and every kind was displayed to him. Then قال ألم أقل لكم إني أعلم غيب السموات والأرض وأعلم ما تبدون وما كنتم تكتمون ("He said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and know what you reveal and what you used to conceal?"). He said: As for what they revealed, that is their statement أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"). And as for what they concealed, that is the statement of some of them to others: We are better than he and more knowledgeable.
515 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, [concerning] His word إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"), the verse, he said: Allah created the angels on Wednesday, created the jinn on Thursday, and created Adam on Friday. He said: A group of the jinn disbelieved, and the angels descended upon them to the earth and fought them, and thus there was blood and there was corruption on the earth. From that they said: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?")… the verse.
516 — And it was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the same. ثم عرضهم على الملائكة فقال أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("Then He displayed them to the angels and said: Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful"), up to His word إنك أنت العليم الحكيم ("indeed You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise"). He said: And that was when they said أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ونحن نسبح بحمدك ونقدس لك ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You?"). He said: When they knew that He would place on the earth a successor, they said among themselves: Allah will not create any creation but that we are more knowledgeable than they and more honourable! Then Allah willed to inform them that He had preferred Adam over them, and He taught Adam all the names, and said to the angels أنبئوني بأسماء هؤلاء إن كنتم صادقين ("Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful"), up to His word وأعلم ما تبدون وما كنتم تكتمون ("and I know what you reveal and what you used to conceal"). And what they revealed was when قالوا أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("they said: Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), and what they concealed among themselves was their statement: Allah will not create any creation but that we are more knowledgeable than they and more honourable. Then they knew that Allah had preferred Adam over them in knowledge and honour.
And Ibn Zayd said what:
517 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: When Allah created the Fire, the angels were severely alarmed at it and said: Our Lord, why have You created this Fire, and for what thing have You created it? He said: For whoever disobeys Me among My creatures. He said: And Allah on that day had no creation except the angels, and the earth, upon which there was no creation — He created Adam only thereafter. And he recited the word of Allah: هل أتى على الإنسان حين من الدهر لم يكن شيئا مذكورا ("Has there not come over the human a period of time in which he was nothing worth mentioning?") (76:1). He said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: O Messenger of Allah, would that it were still that time! Then he said: The angels said: O Lord, will there come over us a time in which we will disobey You? — they saw no creation other than themselves. He said: No, I wish to create on the earth a creation and to place upon it a creature, which sheds blood and works corruption on the earth. Then the angels said: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood?"), while You have chosen us? Then place us upon it, for we glorify You with praise and sanctify You and will act upon it in obedience to You! And it seemed tremendous to the angels that Allah should place on the earth one who disobeys Him. Then He said: I know what you do not know. O Adam, inform them of their names! And he said: Such-and-such, and such-and-such. He said: When they saw what Allah had given him of knowledge, they acknowledged Adam's excellence over them, but the wicked one, Iblīs, refused to acknowledge that for him, and said: أنا خير منه خلقتني من نار وخلقته من طين قال فاهبط منها فما يكون لك أن تتكبر فيها ("I am better than he; You created me from fire and him You created from clay. He said: Then descend from it, for it is not for you to be arrogant therein").
And Ibn Isḥāq said what:
518 — Ibn Ḥumayd related that to us, saying: Salama ibn al-Faḍl related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, saying: When Allah willed to create Adam by His power in order to try him and to try [others] through him, on account of His knowledge of what was in His angels and in His entire creation — and the first trial with which the angels were tried, in which there was for them what they love and what they detest, as a trial and purification of what was in them which they did not know but which Allah's knowledge of them encompassed — He gathered the angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, and then said: إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة ("I am going to place on the earth a successor"). He says: a cultivator or inhabitant who inhabits it and cultivates it, a creation that is not of you. Then He informed them of His knowledge concerning them, and said: They will work corruption on the earth, shed blood and commit acts of disobedience. Then they all said together: أتجعل فيها من يفسد فيها ويسفك الدماء ونحن نسبح بحمدك ونقدس لك ("Will You place therein one who will work corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with Your praise and sanctify You?") — we are not disobedient and do not do anything that You detest? He said: إني أعلم ما لا تعلمون ("I know what you do not know") — He said: I know concerning you and of you, but He did not reveal it to them — of disobedience, corruption, bloodshed and the doing of what I detest of them, of what will happen on the earth, of what I have mentioned concerning the descendants of Adam. Allah said to Muḥammad ﷺ: ما كان لي من علم بالملإ الأعلى إذ يختصمون إن يوحى إلي إلا أنما أنا نذير مبين ("I had no knowledge of the highest assembly when they disputed; it is only revealed to me that I am nothing but a clear warner"), up to His word فقعوا له ساجدين ("fall down before him in prostration") (38:69-71). Thus He mentioned to His prophet ﷺ what there was of His mention of Adam when He willed to create him, and the going back and forth of the angels with Him concerning what He mentioned to them of it. When Allah, exalted be His mention, was resolved to create Adam, He said to the angels: إني خالق بشرا من صلصال من حمإ مسنون ("I am going to create a human from ringing clay, from moulded mud") (15:28) — with My hand, as an honouring of him, an exalting of his affair and an honourable distinction of him. The angels kept His covenant, took His word to heart, and unanimously agreed upon obedience, except for what there was of the enemy of Allah, Iblīs, for he kept silent about what was in his soul of envy, wrongdoing, arrogance and disobedience. And Allah created Adam from the skin of the earth (adamat al-arḍ), from clinging clay of moulded mud, with His two hands, as an honouring of him, an exalting of his affair and an honourable distinction of him over the rest of creation.
Ibn Isḥāq said: And it is said — and Allah knows best —: Allah created Adam, then placed him and looked at him for forty years before He breathed the spirit into him, until he became ringing clay like pottery, and no fire touched him. He said: And it is said — and Allah knows best —: when the spirit reached his head, he sneezed and said: "All praise is due to Allah!" Then his Lord said to him: May your Lord have mercy on you! And the angels prostrated to him, when he stood upright, in fulfilment of the covenant of Allah which He had imposed upon them and in obedience to His command which He had given them. But the enemy of Allah, Iblīs, remained standing from among them and did not prostrate, out of opposition, self-exaltation, wrongdoing and envy, and He said to him: "O [Iblīs…]" [here the text ends]
