It is said God (swt) created all the things He created, but did not say about any of them what He said about Adam, since He said, ‘I am appointing on earth a viceregent’. The external sense of these words resembles mutual consultation, if it were to be among created beings. The Real (swt) created the Gardens with what is in them and the Throne with what it has in well-ordered parts and perfection of form, but He did not say, ‘I am creating a throne or a garden or an angel’. But He said of Adam, ‘I am appointing on earth a viceregent’, as a way of conferring honor and distinction.
[Section] The words of the angels, ‘What, will You appoint therein one who will do
corruption therein?’ were not an objection to the divine decree but rather a way of seeking
understanding. To interpret the expression in such a way as to absolve the angels of any blame is more fitting, since they are sinless. God Most High said [in reference to the angels], ‘Who do not disobey God in what He commands them’ [66:6].
It is said that in this speech the Real (s) brought out the hidden haughtiness of their obedience and the attention to their own acts in their hearts. They spoke openly about these hidden affairs of their innermost selves in saying, ‘While we glorify You with praise’. Then verily the Real (s) informed them that the merit of knowledge is more perfect than the merit of action and they had the greater part and superiority in action while Adam had the greater and more abundant part of knowledge. Hence his merit and rank were made apparent.
It is said the Real (s) did not say, ‘They will not do corruption therein and will not shed blood’184 but rather, ‘Assuredly, I know what you know not regarding my pardon of them’. Its meaning is, ‘You know their disobedience but I know my pardon of them’.185
It is also said that in their glorification there is the disclosure of their act and the publicizing of their special qualities and merit, whereas in His pardoning of the disobedient among the children of Adam, there is the disclosure of His (s) generosity and mercy. The Real (s) does not need the obedient acts of anyone. Indeed, if the worthiness of their being praised becomes obvious because of their glorification, [even more so has] God affirmed the worthiness of the Real (s)186 being praised because of [His] pardoning.
183 Muṣṭafā traces a slightly different version of the verse to al-Ṣāḥib b. ʿAbbād, which has the phrase
li-shaqwatī instead of ‘mortals’ (al-warā). The meaning becomes very different with these words: ‘but because of my misfortune my choice has fallen upon you’ (al- (Muṣṭafā , no. 12, pp. 60-1).
184 The translation follows MSS K117, f. 8b and Y101, f. 12a here in the use of the pronoun ‘they’
rather than the pronoun ‘you’ found in the Basyūnī edition.
185 This sentence has been added from MS K117, f. 8b.
186 The translation follows the word ‘the Real (ḥaqq) found in MSS K117, f. 8b and Y101, f. 12a rather
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It is said, ‘Assuredly, I know what you know not of the purity of the beliefs of the faithful among them in their love for Us and the maturity of their innermost hearts in preserving Our Covenant, even if their outward selves are sullied by disobedience’, just as it is said:
When the lover
has committed a single sin, his good qualities
produce a thousand intercessors.187
It is also said, ‘Assuredly, I know what you know not of My love for them. You disclose your states while I have made My secrets in them hidden from them’. Regarding this they have recited:
Those who defame
have not diminished your rank with me nor has
the slander hurt you.
It is as if by criticizing you they have praised you in my sight,
but they do not know.188
It is also said, ‘Assuredly, I know what you know not of the breaking of their hearts even though they have done ugly acts, and the immoderation of your hearts in disclosing your glorification and sanctification. You are in the rank of harmony (wifāq), the sinlessness of your acts, and the adornment of your glorification, while they are disavowed by their own witnesses and are lowly in their hearts. Truly, because of the breaking of the hearts of servants there is a powerful protective pact with Us’.
187 Muṣṭafā located the verse in several sources but with no reliable attribution (Muṣṭafā, no. 1, p. 76). 188 Muṣṭafā attributes these verses to Abū Nuwās based on several sources, and to Al-ʿAbbās b. al-
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It is said, ‘What significance is there to your glorification if not for My grace?’ And, ‘What harm is there in their sins when there is My pardon?’
It is also said, ‘I clothed you with your obedience and clothed them with My mercy, so you are in the bodice of your obedience and the garb of your sanctification and glorification, while they are enveloped in My pardon and veiled in My mercy. I have clothed them with the robe of My generosity and wrapped them in the cloak of My pardon’.
It is said, ‘My protection from sin has made you happy, yet they have received My mercy. My protection from sin to You is connected to your existence while the relationship of My mercy to them is eternal’.
It is said, ‘While your virtuous one (muḥsin) may take precedence in sinlessness, their sinner (mujram) is drowned in mercy’.
It is said. ‘Their reliance on Me purifies their states. It protects them in acknowledging ignorance so that they declare themselves free of different types of knowledge except to the degree granted them by the Real.’ They said, ‘Glory be to you! We know not except what You have taught us’ [2:32].
[2:31] And He taught Adam the names, all of them; then He presented them to the angels and said, ‘Now tell Me the names of these if you speak truly’.
The universality of His saying names necessarily implies the totality, and the connection of this word to all of them indicates comprehensiveness and verification. Just as He taught [Adam] the names of created things, all of them (according to what is articulated in the tafsīr of Ibn ʿAbbās and others), He also taught him the names of the Real (s). But He only
disclosed to [the angels] the locus He chose for knowledge of the names of created things and by that [disclosure] the measure of [Adam’s] superiority over them. As for his uniqueness in knowing His names (s), that was a secret which no angel who is nigh (malak muqarrab)189 was aware of. One who does not have a rank equal to Adam in knowing the names of created things, what hope could there be in his approaching the names of the Real and grasping the secrets of the Unseen? Since being selected for knowing the names of created things makes it proper for the angels to prostrate before him, what is one to think about being selected for knowing the names of the Real (s)? What is owed to the one who is honored with that?
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It is said the special status of the angels is in [their] glorification and sanctification [of God]. These acts of obedience are appropriate for created beings, for surely obedience is the mark of servants, and servants alone. [On the other hand], knowledge, in general, is a kind of
commendation (madḥ)190 that is absolutely necessary in describing the Real (s), one that is not appropriate for anything other than Him. Among the category of created beings, there is no one more perfect in honoring Him than the one who honors Him through His own explanation of His attributes.
It is said He honored [Adam] privately with what He taught him, and then explained His having selected him and having given him precedence on the day of the public revealing.
It is said [that in the words] then He presented them, the [word] ‘then’ (thumma) is a particle of extension or delay. [It might refer] to Adam, in which case it means He gave him time for that which had been established in his heart and for the recognizing of what became known to him by His truth. Then at the time [of the public revealing] He asked him about what he had recognized as true and knew with certainty. Or [the ‘then’ might refer] to the angels when He said to them, in order to frighten them, ‘Now tell Me’. Because He had not presented the information to them, they were bewildered. Because He had presented it to Adam, he responded and gave information (ajāba wa akhbara), spoke and was successful (naṭaqa wa aflaḥa), which was a manifestation of His prior solicitude in his affair.
His words ‘if you speak truly’ contain an allusion to the fact that [the angels] objected to the claim of special status, and the advantage and privilege conferred upon Adam, so He
informed them that the preference (faḍl) is in the eternal (qadīm) selection of [Adam], not in the offering (taqdīm) of their glorification. The Real (s) knew that their types of knowledge did not include knowledge of the names of created things, but then He charged them with saying what they were. This became the clearest of proofs that the affair was His affair and the decree His decree. To Him belongs the imposition of obligation (taklīf) on the one who is asked to obey. [This] is a reply to those who imagine that the decrees of the Real (s) are dependent on what the heedless deem to be good in their claims based on rational
determinations. No, rather it belongs to Him to charge what He wills on whom He wills. The beautiful is what He decrees to be beautiful and the ugly is what He decrees to be ugly.191
[2:32] They said, ‘Glory be to You! We know not except what You have taught us. Surely You are the Knower, Wise’.
190 Al-Qushayrī seems to be referring here to praise that comprehends the attributes of God.
191 Basyūnī adds a note saying that this is a reply to the Muʿtazila who judged divine actions by human
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They offered praise before they made their apology and declared the truth of His judgment over any objection they might have. It means, ‘We have no knowledge of that which You have asked us about and there is no blame that can be directed to You for charging those who incapable with something You know they cannot do. Surely You are the Knower, Wise, i.e., what You do is true and sincere, there is none who can pass judgment over You, and there is no foolishness nor ugliness from You’.
[2:33] He said, ‘Adam, tell them their names’;; And when he had told them their names He said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen in the heavens and the earth?, And I know what you reveal and what you were hiding.’
Among the traces of the divine solicitude to Adam (ʿa) is that when He said to the angels, ‘Now tell Me’ [2:31], they were seized with a fear of speaking, especially since He asked that they tell Him something their types of knowledge did not comprehend. But because of the information Adam (ʿa) had, [God] directed him to inform [the angels] and said, ‘tell them
their names’, and Adam was not overly fearful in speaking to them. When Adam (ʿa)
informed them of the names their types of knowledge lacked, his merit became apparent to them, and He said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen in the heavens and the
earth?’, meaning what the different types of knowledge of creation lack. ‘And I know what you reveal regarding [your] acts of obedience and [what you] hide in believing in [your]
superiority over Adam (ʿa)’.
[Section] When the Real (s) wanted to choose Adam,He protected him, taught him, and showed him the effects of his care until he said what he said [about the names]. When He wanted to execute His decree regarding him, He caused forgetfulness to enter him so that he forgot His covenant in the presence and transgressed His limit. God Most High said, ‘And We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We did not find in him any constancy’ (20:115). The moment which solicitude favored promoted knowledge and goodness
completely, while the moment which made the decree take effect returned him to the state of forgetfulness and disobedience. Thus the decrees of the Real (s) are in what they make come and go. The worshipper is made lowly by His decree and He is doer of what He desires [11:107, 85:16].
[Section] When they imagined obtaining preference for themselves by their glorification and sanctification, He informed them that the carpet of majesty is too holy to be adorned by the obedience of those who obey or to be defiled by the errors of stubborn deniers. Their returning to prostration before Adam made manifest [God’s] freedom from need from any agreement or opposition [of created beings].
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[2:34] And when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves to Adam;; so they prostrated themselves, except Iblīs, who refused and disdained;; and so he became one of the
disbelievers.
The prostration would not be a form of worship to [Adam], in and of himself, but rather a way of conforming to [God’s] (s) command. It was as if their prostration to Adam was worship of God because it was by His command. It was a way of showing respect to Adam because He commanded them to do it to honor his affair. So it is as if that was a kind of submission to [Adam], but one that should not be called worship because the true meaning of worship is the utmost submission and that is not appropriate for anything but [God] (s).
It is said He explained that His (s) sanctity is through His Own Majesty (jalāl), not through their acts. What accrues to them is the borrowing of this beauty (tajammul) by their [acts of] sanctification and glorification. He Who is exalted (yajillu) is the One Who has exalted Himself (ajallahu) by His Own exaltation (ijlālihi), not by their acts, and the One who is mighty has been made mighty by His (s) Own power. His power exalts beyond the exaltation of created beings (jalla ʿan ijlāl al-khalq qudruhu) and His mention is magnified beyond the magnification of created beings (ʿazza ʿan iʿzāz al-khalq dhikruhu).
His words, ‘So they prostrated themselves, except Iblīs’: He refused in his heart (qalb) and disdained to prostrate with his self (nafs). He was among the disbelievers in [God’s] prior determination and knowledge. In the time period in which Iblīs was emboldened by his obedience, he used to strut about in the vest of his conformity [to God’s command and decree]. [The angels] acknowledged his superior rank and believed in the worthiness of his distinction. His affair became as it is said:
The lamp of communion was shining between us. A wind of separation blew on it and it was extinguished.192
He used to consider himself deserving of the claim to superiority and worthy of nearness and special status.
He passed the night well