Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:22
So he made them fall, through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?"
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 explanation of His saying: فَدَلاهُمَا بِغُرُورٍ فَلَمَّا ذَاقَا الشَّجَرَةَ بَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْآتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِنْ وَرَقِ الْجَنَّةِ ("So he brought them both to fall by deception. And when they both tasted of the tree, their private parts became visible to them, and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His saying (so he brought them both to fall by deception): so he beguiled them both by deception.
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One says of this: "so-and-so kept bringing so-and-so to fall by deception" (dallā), in the meaning of: he kept beguiling him by deception and spoke to him with the embellishment of false words. (55)
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= (And when they both tasted of the tree), He says: and when Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ tasted of the fruit of the tree, He says: they both ate of it (56) = (their private parts became visible to them), He says: their private parts were laid bare to them, because Allah stripped them of the covering with which He had clothed them before the sin and the transgression, and He took that away from them on account of the transgression they committed and the disobedience they perpetrated (57) = (and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden), He says: they set about and began to attach upon themselves leaves of the Garden, to cover their private parts, as:
14397 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden), he said: they began to take leaves of the Garden and place them upon their private parts.
14398 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Ādam was like a tall palm tree, with much hair upon the head. When he fell into the transgression, his private part became visible to him, whereas he had not been wont to see it. He set off fleeing, and a tree came in his way and held him fast by his hair. He said to it: let me go! It said: I will not let you go! Then his Lord called him: O Ādam, are you fleeing from Me? He said: no, but I was ashamed before You. (59)
14399 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna and Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of ʿUmāra, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The tree which Allah forbade to Ādam and his wife was the ear of grain. When they both ate of it, their private parts became visible to them, and that which had covered their private parts for them were their nails, and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden, fig leaves, which they made to stick together. Ādam set off turning away in the Garden, and a tree of the Garden seized his head, and He called him: O Ādam, are you fleeing from Me? He said: no, but I was ashamed before You, O Lord! He said: had you then no sufficient alternative in what I have bestowed upon you of the Garden and what I have permitted you of it, instead of what I have forbidden you? He said: yes indeed, O Lord, but by Your might, I did not think that anyone would swear falsely by You. He said: and that is the saying of Allah: وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ ("And he swore to them both: verily, I am for you both among the sincere counselors"). He said: by My might, I shall surely make you descend to the earth, and thereafter you shall obtain your sustenance only with toil. He said: and he was sent down from the Garden, while they both had been eating abundantly therein, and they were sent down without abundance of food and drink. Then he was taught the forging of iron, and he was commanded to plow, so he plowed and sowed and then irrigated, until, when it ripened, it was harvested, and thereafter he threshed it, and thereafter he winnowed it, and thereafter he ground it, and thereafter he kneaded it, and thereafter he baked it, and thereafter he ate it, and he did not swallow it until he had swallowed of it what Allah willed that he should swallow. (60)
14400 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: (they fastened together), he said: they patched, in the form of a garment.
14401 - Al-Muthannā 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: they fastened upon themselves of the leaves in the form of a garment.
14402 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: (and when they both tasted of the tree, their private parts became visible to them), whereas they had not seen them before = (and they began to fasten together), the verse.
14403 - ... he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: al-Ḥasan related to us, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb: that Ādam, peace be upon him, was a tall man, like a tall palm tree, with much hair upon the head. When he fell into that into which he fell of the transgression, his private part became visible to him thereby, whereas he had not been wont to see it. He set off fleeing in the Garden, and a tree of the trees of the Garden kept clinging to his head, and he said to it: let me go! It said: I will not let you go! Then his Lord called him: O Ādam, are you fleeing from Me? He said: Lord, I was ashamed before You. (61)
14404 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden), he said: fig leaves.
14405 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden), he said: fig leaves.
14406 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ḥusām ibn Miṣakk, on the authority of Qatāda = and Abū Bakr, on the authority of someone other than Qatāda = he said: the clothing of Ādam in the Garden was entirely nail, and when he fell into the sin, it was stripped off him and his private part became visible = Abū Bakr said: someone other than Qatāda said: (and they began to fasten upon themselves leaves of the Garden), he said: fig leaves. (62)
14407 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: (their private parts became visible to them), he said: they did not used to see their private parts.
14408 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: يَنْـزِعُ عَنْهُمَا لِبَاسَهُمَا [Surah Al-A'raf: 27] ("He strips from them both their clothing"). He said: the clothing of Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ, peace be upon them, was light upon their private parts, and this one did not see the private part of that one, nor did that one see the private part of this one. When they committed the transgression, their private parts became visible to them. (63)
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The discourse on the explanation of His saying: وَنَادَاهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَنْ تِلْكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُلْ لَكُمَا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ (7:22) ("And their Lord called them both: did I not forbid you both that tree and tell you both that satan is for you both a manifest enemy?")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and their Lord called Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ: did I not forbid you both the eating of the fruit of the tree of whose fruit you have eaten, and did I not make known to you both that Iblīs is for you both a manifest enemy = He says: he has made manifest his enmity toward you both by his refusal to prostrate before Ādam, out of envy and wrongdoing, (64) as:
14409 - 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, concerning His saying: (and their Lord called them both: did I not forbid you both that tree and tell you both 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 it to 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? It said: Iblīs commanded me! He said: accursed, banished! As for you, O Ḥawwāʾ, just as you caused the tree to bleed, so shall you bleed every month. And as for you, O serpent, I cut off your legs, so that you crawl upon your belly, and the head of whoever meets you shall be crushed. Descend, the one of you an enemy to the other. (65)
14410 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: when Ādam ate of the tree, it was said to him: why did you eat of the tree which I had forbidden you? He said: Ḥawwāʾ commanded me! He said: verily, I have punished her for that with this, that she conceives only with reluctance and gives birth only with reluctance. He said: and Ḥawwāʾ wailed thereat, and it was said to her: the wailing rests upon you and upon your offspring. (66)
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Footnotes:
(55) See the explanation of "the deception" (al-ghurūr) in the foregoing, p. 123, footnote 2, and the references there.
(56) See the explanation of "tasted" (dhāqa) in the foregoing, p. 209, footnote 1, and the references.
(57) See the explanation of "became visible" (badā) in the foregoing, 5:582 / 9:350. = And the explanation of "the private part" (al-sawʾa) in the foregoing, 10:229, and what will come, p. 361, footnote 3.
(58) "A tall palm tree" (nakhla saḥūq) is the especially tall one whose fruit is far removed from the picker.
(59) The report 14398 - "al-Ḥajjāj" is "al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl", mentioned repeatedly before. And "Abū Bakr" is "Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī", mentioned before under nos. 597, 8376, 13054, and he is weak, not trustworthy. And this report was cited by Ibn Kathīr in his tafsīr 3:458, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, as mawqūf and not as marfūʿ. Then Ibn Kathīr said: "And Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Mardawayh narrated it through several routes, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, as marfūʿ, but the mawqūf version has a sounder isnād." And it is as he said. And it will come under no. 14403, via the route of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, as mawqūf.
(60) The report 14399 - "al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra ibn al-Muḍarrib al-Bajalī" was judge of Baghdad under the rule of al-Manṣūr. Aḥmad said: "rejected in the narration, he was reprehensible in narration, and his narrations are fabricated, one does not write down his narration." And the judgment upon him is severer than this. He is biographically treated in al-Tahdhīb, and al-Kabīr 1/2/300, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/2/27. And in the printed edition it had "on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of ʿUmāra", which is a pure error; the correct reading is what I have taken from the manuscript, and Ibn Kathīr in his tafsīr 3:459. And in the printed edition and with Ibn Kathīr: "and he did not attain it, until he attained ..." all of that with the dotted ghayn, whereas what is in the manuscript is without dots, and my conjecture is that it is the correct reading that accords with the context.
(61) The report 14403 - See the comment on the preceding report no. 14398, for this is the mawqūf report, and it has a sounder isnād than that marfūʿ report.
(62) The report 14406 - "Ḥusām ibn Miṣakk ibn Ẓālim ibn Shayṭān al-Azdī" is weak, gross in errors and misconceptions. Mentioned before under no. 11720. And in the printed edition it had "Ḥusām ibn Maʿbad"; the manuscript was not read correctly. And "Abū Bakr" is "Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī", likewise weak, mentioned shortly before under no. 14398.
(63) The report 14408 - Ibn Kathīr said in his tafsīr 3:460: "Ibn Jarīr narrated it with an isnād authentic up to him."
(64) See the explanation of "manifest" (mubīn) in the foregoing, in the linguistic indexes (b-y-n).
(65) The report 14409 - The report has occurred at length with this isnād under no. 752, with a slight divergence in the wording. And see the source citation there.
(66) "The woman wailed, she wails a wailing" (rannat al-marʾa): that is to say she resounded and cried out from grief and despair. And "the wailing" (al-ranna) is the sorrowful cry at weeping.
