Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:24
[Allah] said, "Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment 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 explanation of His statement: قَالَ اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَلَكُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَى حِينٍ (24) (He said: "Descend, the one of you being an enemy to the other. And for you on the earth there is a dwelling place and an enjoyment for an appointed time." (24))
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a report from Allah — exalted is His mention — about what He did with Iblīs and his progeny, with Ādam and his children, and with the serpent.
Allah — exalted is His mention — says to Ādam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent: descend from heaven to the earth, the one of you being an enemy to the other, as in:
14413 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ṭalḥa related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Descend, the one of you being an enemy to the other), he said: He cursed the serpent, cut off its legs, made it crawl upon its belly, and made its food out of the dust. And they descended to the earth: Ādam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent.
14414 — 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: (Descend, the one of you being an enemy to the other), he said: Ādam, Ḥawwāʾ and the serpent.
* * *
And His statement: (And for you on the earth there is a dwelling place), He says: and for you, O Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ, and Iblīs and the serpent — there is on the earth a fixed place where you dwell, and a resting place that you prepare, as in:
14415 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam al-ʿAsqalānī 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: (And for you on the earth there is a dwelling place), he said: that is His statement: الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا [Surah Al-Baqarah: 22] (Who has made the earth a bed for you).
* * *
And concerning this point there is a narration from Ibn ʿAbbās, namely:
14416 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of one who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, His statement: (And for you on the earth there is a dwelling place), he said: the graves.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view on this point is that one says: Allah — exalted is His mention — informed Ādam, Ḥawwāʾ, Iblīs and the serpent, when they were sent down to the earth, that they are enemies to one another, and that they have upon it a dwelling place where they dwell. And He did not restrict it to a dwelling place during their lifetime to the exclusion of their condition after death, but rather the report concerning it was general, namely that they have upon it a dwelling place. Thus it applies in its generality, just as Allah made the report general: they have upon it a dwelling place during their lives upon its surface, and after their death within its interior, as He — exalted is His praise — said: أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا * أَحْيَاءً وَأَمْوَاتًا [Surah Al-Mursalāt: 25-26] (Have We not made the earth a place of gathering, for the living and the dead?).
* * *
And as for His statement: (and an enjoyment for an appointed time), He — exalted is His praise — says: "and for you there is upon it an enjoyment," which you enjoy until the end of the world. And that is the appointed time which He mentioned, as in:
14417 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of one who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and an enjoyment for an appointed time), he said: until the Day of Resurrection and until the end of the world.
* * *
And "the appointed time" (al-ḥīn) itself is: the moment in time, except that its extent is unknown. To this points the saying of the poet:
And what is your recklessness after sobriety and piety, while the grayness has already overspread you at a time upon which there is no time.
That is to say: a time upon which there is no time.