37. " then adam received (certain) words from his lord. and
he turned
towards him (mercifully). truly he is oft-pardoning,
the most merciful."
38. " we said: ` get you down from it, all together; until there shall
come to you a guidance from me, for whoever follows my guidance,
no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve '."
39. " but those who reject faith and deny our signs, they are the
inhabitants of the fire, dwelling therein forever."
commentary :
adam's return
to allah
after the temptation of iblis and the
removal of adam from the
garden, adam realized that he had truly done injustice to himself when
he was removed from that quiet environment full of bounties as a result
of the temptation of iblis and was placed on the earth, a grievous
environment full of toil and pain. at this time, adam thought of
compensation for his mistake and earnestly attended to the lord with
his whole heart and soul, but with a great deal of regret and penitence.
at the same time, the mercy of allah was bestowed on him with
`some effective words' by the means of which adam repented and he
accepted his repentance mercifully; as the qur'an says:
" then adam received (certain) words from his lord.
..."
"... and he turned towards him (mercifully). ..."
it did happen because: "...truly he is
oft-pardoning, the most
merciful."
the term /taubah/ originally means: ` to
return '. in the
statements of the qur'an, it means: `to return from sin'. this meaning
is applied when it refers to a sinful person. but, sometimes, the term is
used when concerning allah. in this case, it means ` to return to his
mercy '; that is, the mercy which a person was deprived of because of
committing sin. when a sinful one returns to the path of obedience and
worship, he returns that mercy to him/her, too. that is why the lord is
attributed as ` oft-returning ', too.
by the way, it should be noted that the arabic word /taubah/,
which is generally understood as `repentance', does not imply the mere
utterance of any verbal prayers. it demands a real and active change in
the behavior as well as the active attitude of the individual towards the
purity of his/her life. it demands a moral conversion with a strong and
definite determination on the part of the repenting individual, never
again to return to the mistake or the wrong that had been committed
before.
in other words, the term /taubah/ `repentance' is a word
commonly used both for allah and his servants. when it is used for
the servants of allah, it means that ` they have returned to their lord
', because any sinner, in fact, has abandoned his lord, and when the
servant repents, he/she returns to him.
when servants fail to obey their lord, it seems that they cause
him, also, to turn away from them. when allah is attributed with
/taubah/, it means that he returns his mercy and favour to them.
it is true that adam, indeed, did not do any unlawful thing against
the lord, but that very mistake was counted as ` a comparative wrong '
regarding him. adam (a.s.) immediately felt his condition and returned
to his lord. he repented by the means of the `words' he received, and
his repentance was accepted. but what the nature of the `words' was
will be discussed separately under the title of ` explanation '.
anyhow, adam's repentance was accepted but
not abstaining
from the use of the fruit of the prohibited tree which had a potential
innate effect ultimately resulted in the form of his settlement on the
earth. this consequence remained unchanged for the couple, as the
above verses say:
" we said: ` get
you down from it, all together; until there shall come
to you a guidance from me, for whoever follows my guidance, no fear shall
be upon them, nor shall they grieve '. "
" but those who
reject faith and deny our signs, they are the
inhabitants of the fire, dwelling therein forever."
explanation :
the `words
'adam (a.s.) learnt from the lord
commentators have cited different
ideas commenting on the
quality and the meaning of the `words' that allah taught adam (a.s.).
mere common sense suggests that what was bestowed upon adam
by the all-knowing, all-merciful lord could not have been
anything of an ordinary prayer. it must have been something very
special or extraordinary which the all-merciful himself bestowed
upon him by means of which adam (a.s.) or anyone could
unfailingly invoke the mercy of the lord after having displeased
him.
it is popularly accepted that the `words' were the same words and
meanings revealed in sura al-'a`raf, no. 7, verse 23, thus: " they
said: ` our lord! we have wronged our own souls: if thou forgive us not
and bestow not upon us thy mercy, we shall certainly be lost '."
a group of commentators have said
that the purpose of the
`words' might have been this invocation:
" o' lord!
there is no deity but you! glory be to you,and yours is the
praise! o' my lord! i have indeed wronged my soul! do thou then forgive
me! for thou art the best of those who forgive". or, "...and have
mercy
upon me: for thou art the best of those who show mercy! " or
"...and turn
unto me (in mercy);for thou art verily the oft-returning, most merciful!
".
this idea has been cited in a
tradition narrated from imam baqir (a.s.),
the fifth imam. 1
some phrases similar to the above
ones have occurred in the
qur'an. for example, jonah (yunus) (a.s.), asking allah to forgive
him, says: "...glory
to thee: i was indeed wrong! ", (sura al-'anbiya ,
no. 21, verse 87). and, about
moses (a.s.), the qur'an says: "he
prayed: ` o' my lord! i have indeed wronged my soul! do thou then
forgive me! ' so (allah) forgave him...", (sura al-qasas, no. 28, verse
16).
he
prayed: ` o' my lord! i have indeed wronged my soul! do thou then
forgive me! ' so (allah) forgave him...", (sura al-qasas, no. 28, verse
16).
many islamic traditions narrated
from ahlul-bait (a.s.), such as
tafsir-i-durrul-manthur, denote that the objective meaning of the
` words ' taught to adam (a.s.) by allah was the holy names of the
holy five; viz: the holy prophet muhammad (p.b.u.h.), his cousin and
son-in-law hadrat ali, his daughter fatimah, and his sons (i.e.
grandsons) hassan and husayn (a.s.). adam (a.s.) relied on these
`words' and asked him to forgive him. then, allah accepted it and
forgave him.
these three commentaries do not contradict one another since
the entirity of the `words' might have been taught to adam (a.s.) in
order that, through their (the ` words ') reality, depth, and innate
nature, he could obtained a pure perfect spiritual change in his heart
and soul totally so that allah would shower him with his grace and
guidance.