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 was not a form of worship ʿibāda to [Adam] in and of himself but rather a way of conforming muwāfaqa to [God's] سبحانه 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 in order to honor his affair. So it is as if that was a kind of submission khuḌūʿ to [Adam] but one that should not be called worship because the true meaning of worship is the utmost submission nihāyat al-khuḌūʿ and that is not appropriate toward anything but [God] سبحانه. It is said that He explained that His سبحانه sanctity is through His own majesty bi-jalālihi not through their acts lā bi-af ʿālihi even though the adoption of the beautifying [acts] of their sanctification and glorification is credited to them. He who is exalted yajillu is the One who has exalted Himself ajallahu by His own exaltation ijlālihi not by their acts lā bi-af ʿālihi and the One who is mighty yaʿizzu is the One whose power has been made mighty aʿazzahu by His own might iʿzāzihi. His power is exalted beyond the exaltation of created beings jalla ʿan ijlāl al-khalq qudruhu and His mention is magnified beyond the magnification of cre- ated beings ʿazza ʿan iʿzāz al-khalq dhikruhu. His words So they prostrated themselves except Iblīs [means Iblīs] refused in his heart qalb and disdained to prostrate with his self nafs. He was among [those who] disbelieved in [God's] prior determination ḥukm and knowledge ʿilm. 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 [the poet] said: The lamp of communion was shining between us. A wind of separation blew on it and it was extinguished. [Iblīs] used to consider himself deserving of the claim to superiority istījāb al-khayriyya and worthy of nearness and special status istiḥqāq al-takhṣīṣ wa-l-khuṣūṣiyya.
