Commentary
And when He, glorified and exalted is He, established in the story of Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, what He indicated at the beginning of the surah regarding His forbearance and patience with His servants, and His granting them time concerning what they are upon of deficiency due to forgetting the covenants and breaking the agreements, He followed it with the mention of this praise that has reached us through it, and the blame of those who turn away from it. He concluded it with what He commanded him ﷺ in his matter, both in prohibition and command. Then, glorified and exalted is He, followed that with the story of Adam, blessings and peace be upon him, as a warning against leaning towards that which causes forgetfulness, and urging the one who has forgotten to return to the obedience of the Most Merciful. He clarified that what He established regarding His forbearance and granting time is His custom, glorified and exalted is He, from eternity, and that His attribute which existed while we were in the realm of non-existence, and that He created man with deficiency. If He were to take them for their sins, He would not leave upon it any creature. He said, emphasizing His words: "And thus We have sent it down as an Arabic judgment" [Ar-Ra'd: 37] or "Thus We relate to you from the news of what has preceded" [Ta-Ha: 99], affirming what has preceded in it and what He has commanded regarding the Qur'an, warning against neglecting that, even if it is in the form of forgetfulness. He fulfilled what He promised regarding narrating the stories of those who preceded in what corresponds to this context: "And certainly We had commanded" with what is due to us of greatness "to Adam, the father of mankind, whom We informed of much of it in the prohibition against eating from the tree" [before], meaning in a time from the past before those who have been mentioned in this surah regarding their forgetting and turning away. "So he forgot" our covenant and ate from it, while knowing of that greatness which he should not have forgotten along with that confirmed covenant due to that majesty. We counted against him falling into that which was prohibited, forgetting a sin due to the high rank he holds with us. So he is from the category of "the good deeds of the righteous are sins of those who are close". So how about what is above that! "And We did not find" in consideration of what is due to us of greatness "for him a resolve", meaning a firm intention, past and a decisive will without hesitation, like the intentions of the angels, blessings be upon them. The meaning is that our knowledge did not relate to that being present. Yet, with that, We forgave him and did not remove him from the rank of selection. And when the purpose of the surah, as has been mentioned, is to inform about forbearance, patience, and gentleness with the one who turns away, and the ability to deal with the one who turns away, He mentioned the action of Adam, blessings and peace be upon him, in this surah with the term disobedience, explicitly stating that it was in the form of forgetfulness. He mentioned that first in a general way, then followed it with a detailed account so that it would be mentioned twice, affirming the intended meaning, establishing and warning against falling into what is prohibited, and guiding the one who has been overcome by the nature of deficiency to hasten to regret and take the means of repentance so that Allah may forgive him as He did with Adam, blessings and peace be upon him, and He said:
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