Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:36
But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."
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.
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا ("Then Satan caused them both to slip from it")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The reciters (the qurrāʾ) differed concerning the reading of this. Most of them read it as "fa-azallahumā" with doubling of the lām (tashdīd), in the meaning of: he brought them both to slip (istazallahumā). This is derived from your saying: "zalla al-rajul fī dīnihi" — when a man stumbles in his religion and commits an error, and so does something it was not permitted for him to do. And "azallahu ghayruhu" — when another causes for him the occasion by which he slips, in his religion or in his worldly life. For this reason Allah, exalted be His remembrance, ascribed the going forth of Adam and his wife from the Garden to Iblīs, and He said: فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا — that is, Iblīs — مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ ("and so he caused them both to depart from that in which they were"), because he was the one who caused for them the sin for which Allah punished them by expelling them from the Garden.
Others read it as "fa-azālahumā", in the meaning of the removal (izālah) of a thing from another thing, and that is the setting of it aside.
There is related from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the interpretation of His statement "fa-azallahumā", the following:
741 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: "fa-azallahumā al-shayṭān" — he said: he seduced them both (aghwāhumā).
The more correct of the two readings is the reading of him who read: "fa-azallahumā", because Allah, exalted be His praise, in the following portion of the text that comes after this, has reported that Iblīs caused them both to depart from that in which they were. And that is precisely the meaning of His statement "fa-azālahumā". Therefore there is no ground — since the meaning of izālah (removal) is the meaning of setting aside and causing to depart — to say: "fa-azālahumā al-shayṭān ʿanhā fa-akhrajahumā mimmā kānā fīhi" (Satan removed them both from it and caused them to depart from that in which they were), for then it would be like His statement: "Satan removed them both from it and removed them both from that in which they were." But what is intelligible is that one says: Iblīs caused them both to slip from obedience to Allah — as He, exalted be His praise, said: "fa-azallahumā al-shayṭān", and as the reciters have read it — and so, by causing them to slip, he caused them both to depart from the Garden.
If someone were to say to us: And how was the slipping to which Iblīs brought Adam and his wife, that even their expulsion from the Garden was ascribed to him?
Then it is answered: The scholars (ʿulamāʾ) have made statements about that, some of which we shall mention.
There is related from Wahb ibn Munabbih concerning that the following:
742 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related it to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muhrib informed us, saying: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih saying: When Allah made Adam and his offspring — or: his wife — (the doubt is from Abū Jaʿfar: in his original manuscript it says "his offspring") dwell in the Garden, and forbade him the tree — and it was a tree whose branches interlaced with one another, and it bore a fruit which the angels ate for their immortality, and it is the fruit which Allah forbade to Adam and his wife. When Iblīs wished to bring them both to slip, he entered into the body of the serpent. The serpent had four legs, like a Bactrian camel; she was one of the most beautiful of the animals that Allah created. When the serpent entered the Garden, Iblīs came forth from her body, took of the tree which Allah had forbidden to Adam and his wife, and brought it to Ḥawwāʾ (Eve) and said: "Look at this tree! How sweet it smells, how sweet it tastes, and what a splendid color it has!" Then Ḥawwāʾ took of it and ate of it, and afterwards she brought it to Adam and said: "Look at this tree! How sweet it smells, how sweet it tastes, and what a splendid color it has!" Then Adam ate of it, and their private parts became visible to them both. Thereupon Adam entered into the interior of the tree, and his Lord called him: "O Adam, where are you?" He said: "I am here, O Lord!" He said: "Will you not come forth?" He said: "I am ashamed before You, O Lord." He said: "Cursed be the earth from which you were created, with a curse by which its fruit is turned into thorns." He (Wahb) said: And there was in the Garden, nor on the earth, no tree more excellent than the ṭalḥ (acacia) and the sidr (lote-tree). Then He said: "O Ḥawwāʾ, you are the one who beguiled My servant; therefore you shall not bear a pregnancy, or you shall bear it with aversion, and when you wish to deliver what is in your belly, you shall draw near to death many times." And He said to the serpent: "You are the one into whose body the accursed one entered until he beguiled My servant; cursed are you, with a curse by which your legs are drawn into your belly, and you shall have no food but dust. You are the enemy of the children of Adam and they are your enemies: wherever you meet any of them, you seize him by his heel, and wherever he meets you, he crushes your head." ʿUmar said: Wahb was asked: And what then did the angels eat? He said: Allah does what He wills.
There is related from Ibn ʿAbbās a narration like this:
743 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī in a report which he mentioned, 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 some people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: When Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said to Adam: اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلا تَقْرَبَا هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ("Dwell, you and your wife, in the Garden, and eat of it abundantly wherever you wish, but do not approach this tree, lest you become among the wrongdoers"), Iblīs wished to enter the Garden upon them, but the guardians prevented him from that. Then he came to the serpent — she was an animal with four legs, like a camel, and she was as one of the most beautiful of animals — and spoke with her that she should take him into her mouth so that she might bring him in to Adam. So she brought him in within her fuqm — Abū Jaʿfar said: al-fuqm is the side of the corner of the mouth — and the serpent passed by the guardians and entered without their knowing of what Allah willed of affairs. He spoke to him from the corner of her mouth, but he (Adam) paid no heed to his words. Then he came to him and said: يَا آدَمُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لا يَبْلَى [Surah Ṭā Hā: 120] ("O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom that does not decay?") — he says: shall I direct you to a tree which, if you eat of it, you shall be a king like Allah, Mighty and Exalted, or you shall be among the immortals, so that you shall never die. And he swore to them by Allah: "Verily, I am for you both among the sincere advisers." He intended thereby only to show them what of their private parts was hidden from them, by stripping off their covering. For he knew that they both had a private part, from what he read in the books of the angels, while Adam did not know that. Their covering was the horny layer (al-ẓufr). Adam refused to eat of it, but Ḥawwāʾ went first and ate, and then said: "O Adam, eat! For I have eaten and it has done me no harm." When Adam ate, their private parts became visible to them both, and they began to cover themselves with leaves of the Garden.
744 — It was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: A narrator related to me: that Satan entered the Garden in the form of an animal with legs, and it was thought to be a camel. He said: Then he was cursed and his legs fell off and he became a serpent.
745 — And it was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: And Abū al-ʿĀliya related to me that some camels were originally descended from the jinn. He said: He (Adam) was permitted the whole Garden, except the tree, and it was said to them both: "Do not approach this tree, lest you become among the wrongdoers." He said: Then Satan came to Ḥawwāʾ and began with her, and said: "Is anything forbidden to you?" She said: "Yes, this tree." Then he said: مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 20] ("Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest you become two angels or lest you become among the immortals"). He said: Then Ḥawwāʾ began and ate of it, then she commanded Adam and he ate of it. He said: And it was a tree from which, whoever ate of it, got excretion. He said: And it is not fitting that there be excretion in the Garden. He said: "Then Satan caused them both to slip from it and caused them to depart from that in which they were." He said: Thus was Adam expelled from the Garden.
746 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of some scholars: that Adam, when he entered the Garden and saw what was in it of honor and what Allah had bestowed upon him of that, said: "Ah, were there but eternity!" Then Satan found therein a weak point in him to take hold of, because he heard that from him, and he approached him from the side of immortality.
747 — And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: It was related to me: that the first thing with which he began his stratagems against them both was that he wailed over them with a wailing that grieved them when they heard it, and they said: "What makes you weep?" He said: "I weep for you both: you shall die and so take leave of the bounty and honor in which you are." That struck their hearts. Then he came to them and whispered to them, and said: يَا آدَمُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لا يَبْلَى ("O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom that does not decay?") and he said: مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ * وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ("Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest you become two angels or lest you become among the immortals. And he swore to them both: Verily, I am for you among the sincere advisers"). That is: you shall become two angels, or you shall remain forever, if you do not become angels — in the bounty of the Garden, and so you shall not die. Allah, exalted be His praise, says: فَدَلاهُمَا بِغُرُورٍ ("So he brought them both down by deception").
748 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Satan whispered to Ḥawwāʾ concerning the tree, until he brought her to the tree, and afterwards he made it beautiful in the eyes of Adam. He said: Adam called her for his need, but she said: "No! Unless you come here." And when he came, she said: "No! Unless you eat of this tree." He said: Then they both ate of it and their private parts became visible to them. He said: And Adam fled away through the Garden, and his Lord called him: "O Adam, are you fleeing from Me?" He said: "No, O Lord, but out of shame before You." He said: "O Adam, from where were you stricken?" He said: "From the side of Ḥawwāʾ, O Lord." Then Allah said: "Verily, it rests upon Me concerning her that I shall make her bleed once every month, just as you made this tree bleed, and that I shall make her foolish though I had created her intelligent, and that I shall make her conceive with aversion and give birth with aversion, though I had made her conceive with ease and give birth with ease." Ibn Zayd said: And were it not for the affliction that struck Ḥawwāʾ, the women of the world would not menstruate, and they would be intelligent, and they would conceive with ease and give birth with ease.
749 — And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Qusayṭ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, who said: I heard him swear by Allah without reservation (without saying "in shāʾ Allāh"): Adam did not eat of the tree while he was in his senses, but Ḥawwāʾ gave him wine to drink, and when he was drunk, she led him to it and he ate.
750 — And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, on the authority of Ṭāwūs al-Yamānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The enemy of Allah, Iblīs, offered himself to the animals of the earth, that one of them might carry him so that he might enter the Garden with her and speak with Adam and his wife. All the animals refused him that, until he spoke with the serpent and said to her: "I shall protect you against the son of Adam, and you shall be under my protection, if you bring me into the Garden." Then she placed him between two of her fangs, and afterwards she entered with him, and he spoke to them both from her mouth. She was clothed and walked on four legs, but Allah stripped her bare and made her crawl upon her belly. He said: Ibn ʿAbbās says: "Kill her wherever you find her; sever from her the protection of the enemy of Allah."
751 — And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq said: And the people of the Torah (ahl al-Tawrāh) study: that it was only the serpent that spoke to Adam, but they did not give the interpretation as the interpretation of Ibn ʿAbbās.
752 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays, who said: Allah forbade Adam and Ḥawwāʾ to eat of one single tree in the Garden, while they were permitted to eat of it abundantly wherever they wished. Then Satan came and entered into the body of the serpent, and spoke with Ḥawwāʾ, and Satan whispered to Adam and said: مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ * وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ("Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest you become two angels or lest you become among the immortals. And he swore to them both: Verily, I am for you among the sincere advisers"). He said: Then Ḥawwāʾ cut into the tree, and the tree bled. And their covering that was upon them fell from them, and they began to cover themselves with leaves of the Garden, and their Lord called them: أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَنْ تِلْكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُلْ لَكُمَا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 22] ("Did I not forbid you that tree and say to you that Satan is for you both a manifest enemy?"). "Why did you eat of it when I had forbidden it to you?" He said: "O Lord, Ḥawwāʾ gave me to eat." He said to Ḥawwāʾ: "Why did you give him to eat?" She said: "The serpent commanded me." He said to the serpent: "Why did you command her?" She said: "Iblīs commanded me." He said: "Cursed and expelled! As for you, O Ḥawwāʾ: just as you made the tree bleed, so shall you bleed at every new moon. And as for you, O serpent: I cut off your legs so that henceforth you shall go crawling upon your face, and your head shall be crushed by whoever meets you with a stone. Descend, the one of you an enemy to the other."
Abū Jaʿfar said: These reports have been related — from those among the companions, the Followers (tābiʿūn) and others to whom we have ascribed them — concerning the manner in which Iblīs, the enemy of Allah, brought Adam and his wife to slip until he caused them to be expelled from the Garden.
The most in accord with the truth of that is, in our view, that which accords with the Book of Allah. Allah, exalted be His remembrance, has reported concerning Iblīs that he whispered to Adam and his wife in order to show them what of their private parts was hidden from them, and that he said to them both: مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلا أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ ("Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest you become two angels or lest you become among the immortals"), and that he "swore to them both: Verily, I am for you among the sincere advisers", while he brought them down by deception. In His report, exalted be His praise — concerning the enemy of Allah that he swore an oath to Adam and his wife by his statement to them both: إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ("Verily, I am for you among the sincere advisers") — lies the clear proof that he addressed them in person, whether visibly before their eyes, or hidden within something else. That is because in the speech of the Arabs it is not intelligible that one says: "so-and-so swore an oath (qāsama) to so-and-so concerning such-and-such", when he merely caused for him an occasion by which he reached him, without swearing an oath to him. For the swearing of an oath does not occur by the causing of an occasion. Likewise His statement فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانُ ("Then Satan whispered to him"): had that been from him with respect to Adam in the manner in which it is from him with respect to his offspring — namely by the making beautiful of the eating of that which Allah forbade Adam to eat of the tree, without addressing him in person with the words and stratagems by which he brought him to slip — then He, exalted be His praise, would not have said: وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ("And he swore to them both: Verily, I am for you among the sincere advisers"). Just as it is also not permissible that today anyone who has committed a sin should say: "Iblīs swore an oath to me that he was for me an adviser concerning that which he made beautiful to me of the sin which I committed." Likewise that which proceeded from Adam and his wife: had it been in the manner in which it takes place between Iblīs and the offspring of Adam today, then He, exalted be His praise, would not have said: وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ. But that was — if Allah wills — in the manner that Ibn ʿAbbās stated, and those who share his statement.
As for the manner in which he reached the Garden so that he spoke with Adam, after Allah had expelled him from it and banished him from it: in that which is related from Ibn ʿAbbās and Wahb ibn Munabbih concerning it, there is no meaning which it is permissible for anyone of understanding to refute, since that is a statement which no reason refutes, nor any report whose affirmation is obligatory by a proof that contradicts it; and it belongs to the possible matters. The statement concerning it is that he succeeded in addressing them, in the manner in which Allah, exalted be His praise, has reported to us; and it is possible that he attained to that in the manner that the interpreters (al-mutaʾawwilūn) have stated — indeed, that is — if Allah wills — indeed so, given the succession of the statements of the people of tafsīr (interpretation) in confirmation of that. Even though Ibn Isḥāq has said concerning it the following:
753 — Ibn Ḥumayd related it to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq said concerning it — and Allah knows best — as Ibn ʿAbbās and the people of the Torah have said: that he reached Adam and his wife by the power (sulṭān) which Allah had given him to test Adam and his offspring therewith, and that he comes to the son of Adam in his sleep and in his waking state, and in every state in which he is, until he attains what he wants of him, so that he summons him to sin and casts desire into his soul without his seeing him. And Allah, Mighty and Exalted, said: "Then Satan caused them both to slip from it and caused them to depart from that in which they were", and He said: يَا بَنِي آدَمَ لا يَفْتِنَنَّكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ كَمَا أَخْرَجَ أَبَوَيْكُمْ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ يَنْـزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا لِيُرِيَهُمَا سَوْآتِهِمَا إِنَّهُ يَرَاكُمْ هُوَ وَقَبِيلُهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا تَرَوْنَهُمْ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ أَوْلِيَاءَ لِلَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 27] ("O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he caused your two parents to be expelled from the Garden, stripping from them their covering to show them their private parts. Verily, he sees you, he and his tribe, from whence you do not see them. Verily, We have made the satans protectors of those who do not believe"). And Allah said to His Prophet, peace be upon him: قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ * مَلِكِ النَّاسِ ("Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind, the King of mankind") to the end of the surah. Then he mentioned the reports that are related from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: "Verily, Satan flows through the son of Adam as the blood flows." Then Ibn Isḥāq said: The affair of the son of Adam between him and the enemy of Allah is only like the affair between him (Iblīs) and Adam. Allah said: فَاهْبِطْ مِنْهَا فَمَا يَكُونُ لَكَ أَنْ تَتَكَبَّرَ فِيهَا فَاخْرُجْ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 13] ("Descend then from it, for it does not befit you to be arrogant therein; go forth, verily, you are among the lowly"). Then he reached Adam and his wife until he spoke with them, as Allah has narrated to us their report, and He said: فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانُ قَالَ يَا آدَمُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لا يَبْلَى [Surah Ṭā Hā: 120] ("Then Satan whispered to him; he said: O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom that does not decay?") — so he reached them both with that with which he reaches their offspring, from whence they do not see him — and Allah knows best which of those two it was — and they both turned in repentance to their Lord.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And in the certitude of Ibn Isḥāq — supposing that he had attained certitude within himself — that Iblīs did not reach Adam and his wife by direct address with that which Allah has reported that he said to them and addressed them with, there is nothing which it is permissible for anyone of understanding to bring forward against that which has been related in abundance (mustafīḍ) from the people of knowledge as statements, together with the indication of the Book for the soundness of that which is widespread among them concerning it. How then with his doubt? And of Allah we ask for good guidance (tawfīq).
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ ("And so he caused them both to depart from that in which they were")
Abū Jaʿfar said: As for the interpretation of His statement "fa-akhrajahumā" (and so he caused them both to depart): it means: so Satan caused Adam and his wife to depart "mimmā kānā" (from that in which they were) — that is: from that in which Adam and his wife were of abundant sustenance in the Garden and the spaciousness of its bounty in which they both were. We have already explained that Allah, exalted be His praise, ascribed their expulsion from the Garden only to Satan — although Allah is the One who expelled them — because their departure from it rested upon an occasion of Satan; for this reason that was ascribed to him, on account of his causing it. Just as one says to a man from whom harm had reached him, so that he removed because of him from the place that he dwelt in: "No one removed me from my place where I was except you", although no removal of him proceeded from him; but because his moving rested upon an occasion of his, it was permissible to ascribe his moving to him.
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ("And We said: Descend, the one of you an enemy to the other")
Abū Jaʿfar said: One says "habaṭa fulān arḍa kadhā wa-wādiya kadhā" (so-and-so descended into such-and-such a land and such-and-such a valley), when he settled there [in that place]. As the poet said:
"I did not cease to follow after them, until, when the hands of the mounts brought them down from Rākis to Falaq …"
This statement of Allah, exalted be His praise, has made clear the soundness of that which we said, namely that the One who expelled Adam from the Garden is Allah, exalted be His praise, and that the ascription by Allah to Iblīs of that which He ascribed to him of their expulsion, was in the manner that we have described. And He has also indicated thereby that the descent of Adam and his wife and their enemy Iblīs took place at one and the same time, in that Allah joined them in the report concerning their descent, after what befell of the sin of Adam and his wife and the causing of it by Iblīs for them both, in the manner that our Lord, exalted be His remembrance, described concerning them.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning who is intended by His statement "ihbiṭū" (descend), while they are agreed that Adam and his wife are among those who are intended by it.
754 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿAwāna, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww" (descend, the one of you an enemy to the other), he said: Adam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent.
755 — Ibn Wakīʿ and Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, they said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: Then He cursed the serpent and cut off her legs and made her crawl upon her belly, and made her food of dust. And to the earth there descended: Adam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent.
756 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: Adam, Iblīs and the serpent.
757 — And al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", [that is] Adam, Iblīs and the serpent; an offspring some of whom are enemies of others.
758 — And al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: Adam and his offspring, and Iblīs and his offspring.
759 — And al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ādam ibn Abī Iyās related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His statement: "baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: he means Iblīs and Adam.
760 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of him who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: the one of them an enemy to the other: Adam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent.
761 — And Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to me, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, who said: There related to me one who heard Ibn ʿAbbās saying: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: Adam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent.
762 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "ihbiṭū baʿḍukum li-baʿḍin ʿaduww", he said: for them both and for their offspring.
Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to say: And what was the enmity between Adam and his wife on the one hand and Iblīs and the serpent on the other? Then it is answered: As for the enmity of Iblīs toward Adam and his offspring: that is his envy toward him, and his arrogance against obedience to Allah in prostrating to him, when he said to his Lord: أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِنْ نَارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ طِينٍ [Surah Ṣād: 76] ("I am better than he: You created me from fire and created him from clay"). And as for the enmity of Adam and his offspring toward Iblīs: that is the enmity of the believers toward him on account of his disbelief in Allah and his disobedience to his Lord in his arrogance against Him and his transgression of His command. And that is, on the part of Adam and the believers among his offspring, faith (īmān) in Allah. And as for the enmity of Iblīs toward Adam: that is disbelief (kufr) in Allah.
And as for the enmity between Adam and his offspring and the serpent: we have already mentioned what is related concerning that from Ibn ʿAbbās and Wahb ibn Munabbih, and that is the enmity that exists between us and her, as it is related from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: "We have not made peace with her since we fought her; and whoever leaves her alone out of fear of her revenge is not of us."
763 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Rishdīn related to me, saying: Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: "We have not made peace with her since we fought her; and whoever leaves anything of her alone out of fear is not of us."
Abū Jaʿfar said: And I hold that the war which exists between us goes back originally to that which our scholars, from whom we have cited the narration above, have mentioned, concerning the bringing in by her of Iblīs into the Garden after Allah had expelled him from it, until he brought him to slip from obedience to his Lord, in his eating of that which was forbidden him to eat of the tree.
764 — And Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us — and Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Ādam related to me — both, on the authority of Shaybān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about the killing of serpents, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "She and man were created, each of them an enemy of the other: if he sees her, she strikes terror into him, and if she bites him, she causes him pain; so kill her wherever you find her."
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَلَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ ("And for you on the earth is a dwelling-place")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation. Some of them said the following:
765 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ādam al-ʿAsqalānī related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His statement: "wa-lakum fī al-arḍ mustaqarr", he said: it is His statement: الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا [Surah al-Baqarah: 22] ("The One who has made the earth a couch for you").
766 — And it was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His statement: "wa-lakum fī al-arḍ mustaqarr", he said: it is His statement: جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرْضَ قَرَارًا [Surah Ghāfir: 64] ("He has made the earth an abode for you").
And others said: its meaning is: and for you on the earth is an abode in the graves.
* Mention of who said that:
767 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "wa-lakum fī al-arḍ mustaqarr", he means the graves.
768 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to me, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, who said: There related to me one who heard Ibn ʿAbbās saying: "wa-lakum fī al-arḍ mustaqarr", he said: the graves.
769 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "wa-lakum fī al-arḍ mustaqarr", he said: their dwelling upon it.
Abū Jaʿfar said: Al-mustaqarr in the speech of the Arabs is the place of settling (istiqrār). Since that is so, it holds: wherever anyone is upon the earth at this moment, there that place of the earth is his dwelling-place.
Allah, exalted be His praise, intended thereby only: that they have on the earth a dwelling-place and an abode in their locations and their dwelling-place, in place of the Garden and the heaven. Likewise His statement وَمَتَاعٌ ("and a temporary enjoyment") — He means thereby: that they have upon it a temporary enjoyment in place of their enjoyment in the Garden.
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, exalted be His remembrance: وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَى حِينٍ (36) ("And a temporary enjoyment until an appointed time")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation. Some of them said: and for you upon it is a sustenance until death.
* Mention of who said that:
770 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn", he said: he says: a sustenance until death.
771 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, who said: There related to me one who heard Ibn ʿAbbās: "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn", he said: life.
And others said: He means by His statement "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn": until the coming of the Hour.
* Mention of who said that:
772 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn", he said: until the Day of Resurrection, until the end of the world.
And others said: "ilā ḥīn", he said: until an appointed term (ajal).
* Mention of who said that:
773 — It was related to me, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn", he said: until an appointed term (ajal).
And al-matāʿ in the speech of the Arabs is everything from which one derives enjoyment of any thing, whether of sustenance from which one derives enjoyment, or of household goods, or adornment, or pleasure, or something else. Since that is so — and since Allah, exalted be His praise, has made the life of every living being an enjoyment for it from which it derives enjoyment in the days of its life, and has made the earth for man an enjoyment in the days of his life, by his dwelling upon it, and his nourishment with that which Allah has brought forth from it of food and fruits, and his pleasure in that which He has created therein of pleasures, and has made it, after his decease, a receptacle (kifāt) for his corpse and an abode and resting-place for his body; and since the name "al-matāʿ" encompasses all of that — the most correct of the interpretations of the verse is — since Allah, exalted be His praise, has set no indication that indicates that by His statement "wa-matāʿun ilā ḥīn" He intended a part and not another, and something particular and not something general, neither in reason nor in a report — that it is in the general meaning, and that the report too is thus: until a time at which the enjoyment of the children of Adam and the children of Iblīs of it extends long, and that is until the earth is exchanged for another earth. Since that is the most correct of the interpretations of the verse for what we have described, it is therefore obligatory that the interpretation of the verse be: and for you on the earth are dwellings and abodes in which you dwell, [in place of] your dwelling — which there was — in the heavens and in the gardens of Paradise in your dwellings thereof, and [for you upon it is] an enjoyment of yours of it and of that which it has brought forth for you, and of that which I have placed for you therein of sustenance, household goods, adornment and pleasures, and of that which I have given you upon its surface in the days of your life, and after your decease your graves and grave-pits in which you are buried; and you reach with your enjoyment of it [the time] until I exchange it for you for another.
