…I am appointing on earth a vicegerent…He answered:God, Exalted is He, before he created Adam said to the angels I am appointing on earth a vicegerent, and He created Adam from the clay of might consisting of the light of Muḥammad , and He informed him that his self which incites evil (al-nafs al-ammāra bi’l-sūʾ) would be his worst enemy, and that He had created it so that he conduct it [on the path] to Him, accordingto his knowledge of it, regarding notions (khawāṭir) and impulses (himam) [which arise in it], and that he [Adam] conduct it in such a way as to remain utterly dependent on Him, seeking refuge in Him. If He shows it an act of obedience, it should respond by saying, ‘O help me!’, and if it is moved to an act of disobedience, it should cry out, ‘O protect me!’ If it is moved to a blessing, it should say, ‘Grant me a share of it!’ If He says to it, ‘Be patient in the face of tribulation’, it should respond saying, ‘O, grant me patience!’ His [man’s] heart should not entertain the slightest whispering (waswasa) of the self without abandoning it and returningto its Lord. God, Exalted is He, made the natural propensity (ṭabʿ) of the self such that it is passive when faced with commandments and active when faced with prohibitions. However, He commanded it to respond with passivity when inclined to activity, and to be active when inclined to passivity, with the words, ‘There is neither power nor strength except in God’, that is, there is no power to resist disobeying Him except through His protection, and no strength to obey Him except with His aid.Then He ordered him [Adam] to enter the Garden and eat from it at ease wherever he wished, after which He decreed to him that he may not eat from the Tree. When he entered the Garden and saw what he saw there, he said, ‘If only we could stay here forever; yet, indeed, we have an appointed time that extends to a known limit.
said to the angels I am appointing on earth a vicegerent, and He created Adam from the clay of might consisting of the light of Muḥammad 
, and He informed him that his self which incites evil (al-nafs al-ammāra bi’l-sūʾ) would be his worst enemy, and that He had created it so that he conduct it [on the path] to Him, accordingto his knowledge of it, regarding notions (khawāṭir) and impulses (himam) [which arise in it], and that he [Adam] conduct it in such a way as to remain utterly dependent on Him, seeking refuge in Him. If He shows it an act of obedience, it should respond by saying, ‘O help me!’, and if it is moved to an act of disobedience, it should cry out, ‘O protect me!’ If it is moved to a blessing, it should say, ‘Grant me a share of it!’ If He says to it, ‘Be patient in the face of tribulation’, it should respond saying, ‘O, grant me patience!’ His [man’s] heart should not entertain the slightest whispering (waswasa) of the self without abandoning it and returningto its Lord. God, Exalted is He, made the natural propensity (ṭabʿ) of the self such that it is passive when faced with commandments and active when faced with prohibitions. However, He commanded it to respond with passivity when inclined to activity, and to be active when inclined to passivity, with the words, ‘There is neither power nor strength except in God’, that is, there is no power to resist disobeying Him except through His protection, and no strength to obey Him except with His aid.Then He ordered him [Adam] to enter the Garden and eat from it at ease wherever he wished, after which He decreed to him that he may not eat from the Tree. When he entered the Garden and saw what he saw there, he said, ‘If only we could stay here forever; yet, indeed, we have an appointed time that extends to a known limit.
