When thy Lord said to the angels, “I am creating a mortal of clay.” From here to this surah's end is the story of Adam and Iblis. A great deal has been said about the two, which I summarize here: In terms of outwardness, a slip appeared from Adam and an act of disobedience from Iblis. It was said to Adam, “Do not eat the wheat,” and he ate it. It was said to Iblis, “Prostrate yourself,” and he did not do so. The capital of rejection and of acceptance, however, did not arise from their acts. It arose from the flow of the Pen and the decrees of Eternity. The Pen wrote felicity for Adam as a consequence of the eternal will. A support was found for that in his makeup, and his sin was consigned to that by way of excuse: He forgot, and We found in him no resoluteness [20:115]. In the case of Iblis, the Pen had written rejection and expulsion by the decree of the eternal will, so an ambuscade was made from his own makeup and his sin was consigned to himself: He refused and claimed to be great; he was one of the unbelievers [2:34]. A collar was made for the sake of cursing and, by the decree of beginningless rejection, it was fastened to the neck of his days. Thus, whenever a gem appeared from the crucible of his deeds, it turned out to be a discard from the hand of the assayer of knowledge. His deeds were discards and his worship became the cause of the curse. His obedience became the motivation for being driven out, and concerning the reality of his work, this expression was given: “No one stands up to the decree and no one contends with the Beginningless.” Which lover of Yours do I not copy and which night for You do I not weep? Though the Adamite does not please You, he has given You permission to shed his blood. In the world of acceptance Adam was like Iblis in the world of rejection. Wherever there are greetings and felicitations, they are turned toward Adam, and wherever there are cursing and ex- pulsion, they are turned toward Iblis. The forelock of that cursed one is fastened to the hem of the resurrection not because of any bestowal of eminence.
