And His Lord Turned towards Him

We move now to verse thirty-one, where we find that the Qur'an continues to explore the angels' question.

And  He  taught  Adam  the  names  of  all things;  then  He placed   them  before  the  angels,  and  said,  "Tell  me  their names  if you are right."  (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:31)

Clearly the angels’ question is being addressed in this verse. Adam's capacities for learning and acquiring knowledge, his ability to be taught, are the focus of this initial response. The next verse demonstrates the angels' inferiority in this respect.  Special  emphasis   is placed  on  man's  ability  to name,  to represent  by verbal symbols, "all things"  that enter  his conscious mind: all his thoughts,  fears, and hopes,  in short, all that he can perceive  or conceive.  This allows man to communicate his experience and knowledge on a relatively high level, as compared to the other creatures about him, and gives all human learning a preeminent cumulative quality. In several places in the Qur'an, this gift to mankind is singled out as one of the greatest bounties bestowed on him by God.

“They  said:  Glory  to you:  we have  no knowledge  except what   You   taught   us,  in  truth   it  is  you  who   are  the Knowing,  the Wise.”  (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:32)

In this verse, the angels plead their inability to perform such a task, for, as they plainly state, it would demand a knowledge and wisdom beyond their capacity. They maintain that its performance would, of course, be easy for God, since His knowledge and wisdom is supreme, but that the same could not be expected of them. In the next passage, we discover that Adam possesses  the level  of  intelligence necessary to accomplish  the  task  and hence,  though  his knowledge   and  wisdom  are  less  than  God's,  it is yet greater  than the angels.

“He said: "O Adam!  Tell them their names."  When he had told them their names, God said: "Did I not tell you that I know what is unseen in the heavens and the earth and I know what you reveal and conceal?"  (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:33)

Here we have an emphatic statement that man's greater intellect figures into an answer to the angels' question. We are informed  that God takes all into  account,  in particular,   all aspects  of  the  human  personality:   man's potential  for  evil, which  the  angels'  question  "reveals,"  and  his complementary and related capacity  for moral and intellectual  growth,  which their question "conceals."  To drive home this point, the next verse has the angels demonstrate  their inferiority  to Adam and shows that man's  more complex personality  makes him a potentially  superior being.

“And behold, We said to the angels, "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed down.  Not so Iblis: he refused and was proud:  he was of the rejecters.”  (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:34)

We also find in this verse the birth of sin and temptation. The Qur'an later informs us that Iblis (Satan) is of the jinn (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:50), a being created of a smokeless fire (Surah Ar-Rahman, 55: 15) and who is insulted at the suggestion that he should humble himself before a creature made of "putrid clay" (Surah Al-A'raf, 7: 12; Surah Al-Isra', 17:61; Surah Saad, 38:76). Satan is portrayed  as possessing  a fiery, consuming,  and destructive  nature, He allows  his passions  to explode  out of control  and initiates  a pernicious rampage. We are often told that money is at the root of all evil, but here the lesson appears to be that pride and self-centeredness is at its core. Indeed, many terrible wrongs are committed for no apparent material motive.

“And we said: "O Adam! Dwell you and your spouse in the garden and eat freely there of what you wish, but come not near this tree for you will be among the wrongdoers." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:35)

Thus the famous and fateful command.  Yet, the tone of it seems curiously restrained.  There is no suggestion that the tree is in any way special; it almost seems as if it were picked at random.  Satan will later tempt Adam with  the  promise  of  eternal  life  and  "a  kingdom   that  never  decays" (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:121),  but this turns out to be a complete  fabrication  on his part. There is not the slightest  hint that God  is somehow  threatened  at the prospect  of Adam  and his spouse  violating  the command;  instead,  He  voices concern for them, because  then "they will be among  the wrongdoers."

This is probably an appropriate place to reflect on what we have learned so far. We saw how God originally intended for man to have an earthly life. We then observed a period of preparation during which man is "taught" to use his intellectual gifts. Now, Adam and his  spouse  are presented a choice, of apparently  no great consequence,  except  for the fact that it is  made  to  be  a  moral choice. It thus seems that man has gradually become or is about to become a moral being.

“But Satan caused them to slip and expelled them from the state in which they were. And we said: "Go you all down, some of you being the enemies of others and on earth will be your dwelling place and provision for a time.” (Surah Al-BAqarah, 2:36)

Once again the Qur’an seems to have a penchant for understating things. The Arabic verb azalia means to cause someone to unintentionally slip or lose his footing.  But how can one of the most terrible wrongs ever committed be described as a momentary "slip"?  Yet perhaps we are letting our own religious backgrounds,   even though we rejected them, distort our reading.  Perhaps the Qur'an considers this sin as nothing more than a temporary slip. After all, it is only a tree! Its only significance may be that it signals a new stage in man’s development, that it causes man to depart from a previous state.

The words "some of you being the enemies of others" apparently refer to all mankind and echo the angels' remark concerning man's earthly strife. Under normal circumstances, we would know now what to expect. We have been terrified by it ever since we were children. It shook us from our sleep  and required  our mothers  to calm  our fears and, unlike  other nightmares,  it never  went  away  when  we awoke,  because  it was  confirmed  by everyone we  trusted.  We  know  that  there  is  about  to  be  unleashed  on mankind   a rage,  a  violence,   a terror,  the  like  of which  has  never  been known  either before or since. Like a huge, thundering,  black, and terrifying storm  cloud, looming  on the horizon  and heading  straight  for us, mankind is about  to be engulfed  by an awesome  fury. And when the smoke  clears, man will find  himself  sentenced,  to life,  on earth, where  he and all his descendants   will  suffer  and  struggle  to  survive  by  their  sweat  and  toil. There they will experience illness, agony, and death. There  they will suffer endless  pain  and  torment  and,  in  all  probability,   more  of  the  same  and worse in the life to come.

And the Woman!!!!  To her belong the greater punishment  and humiliation,   for  it  was  she  who  duped  Adam  with  her  beauty  and  her charms.  It was she who allied herself with Satan an alliance for which Adam was, of course, no match.  It was she who corrupted his innocence and exposed his weaknesses.  So it is she who will ache and bleed monthly. It is she who will scream out in her labor pains.  It is she who will bear the brunt of greater humiliation and drudgery, because the man will be made to rule over her, in spite of the fact that he is obviously her intellectual inferior, since he was unequal to her cleverness and guile. So we  wince  and  shudder  as  we  turn  to  the  terror  we  have  always known.  We cringe and cower as we peek to the next verse.

“Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He turned to him (mercifully).  Truly He is Oft-returning, the Merciful.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:37)

What is this? What is this talk of mercy and turning compassionately towards man? Where is the passion, the jealousy, the anger, erupting out of control?

In this verse,  those that follow,  and others  in the Qur'an that relate  the same episode  (see, for example,  Surah Ta-Ha, 20:116-24), the tone is first and foremost consoling  and assuring.  God immediately pardons Adam and Eve, with no greater blame assigned to either of them.  Adam  receives  "words,"  which some  commentators   interpret  to be words  of inspiration  and others  see as divine  assurances  and promises.  The next verse supports the latter viewpoint, while there are others that include him in the community of prophets (for example, [Surah Al-‘Imran, 3:32]) which sustain the first.

“We said: Go down from this state all of you together; and truly there will come to you guidance from Me and who­ ever follows My guidance, no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:38)

The command issued in Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:36 is repeated here, but this time with special emphasis put on God’s assurances and promises to mankind, thus further precluding the interpretation that man's earthly life is a punishment. This explains why the Qur'an has man remain on earth even though Adam and Eve are immediately forgiven. Nonetheless, the Qur'an will insist, as we read through it, that life serves definite aims and, as the next verse warns, it has grave consequences and must be taken seriously.

“But those who are rejecters and give the lie to our signs, these are the companions of the fire; they will abide in it.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:39)

The story of Adam ends here to be taken up in bits and pieces later. Many questions and problems have been raised, but we have obtained only some clues and clarifications. This is another characteristic of the Qur'an: It interweaves themes throughout the text, rather than provide several distinct and complete discourses on various topics. In this way it baits the reader, luring him or her into its design, so that its different approaches are allowed to exert their influence frequently and repeatedly. It would be naive of us to expect long uninterrupted dissertations on metaphysics or theology, for such would be understandable to few and of interest and inspiration to far fewer. On the other hand, if the Qur'an is guidance, as it claims to be, then we should anticipate suggestions, guideposts, and touchstones that help us along the way. Be assured, the Qur'an will not simply translate us to our goal; it will provide directions at different stages, but the traveling and the discovery will have to be outs, because the questions we ask are not only about God they are about ourselves as peculiar individuals and we are the only persons who have real access to our souls. Thus, as the Qur'an might say, “we must be willing not only to search the horizons, but also our own selves, until we know as much as we can grasp of the truth.” (Surah Fussilat, 41:53).