His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And the Book was placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is in it. And they will say, 'Oh, woe to us! What is this Book that leaves nothing small or large except that it has enumerated it?' And they found what they did present, and your Lord does not do injustice to anyone.﴾

﴿And when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' they prostrated except for Iblis. He was of the jinn and he disobeyed the command of his Lord. Will you then take him and his offspring as allies other than Me while they are for you an enemy? Wretched is for the wrongdoers a substitute.﴾

"The Book" is a generic name referring to the records of people that the guardians have enumerated one by one. It is possible that the subject is a single present Book. And "the fear of the criminals" is their fright from its revelation to them and its exposure. The complaint of the criminals is only from the enumeration, not from injustice or oppression. And he has preceded "the small" to emphasize it, indicating that if the small is enumerated, then the large is more likely to be so. The Arabs always mention the lesser of two associated things first, and similar is their saying: "the two moons and the two Umrans," naming them by the lesser to indicate it. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

"The small" refers to laughter.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is an example, and the rest of the verse is clear.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,'﴾ this verse contains a reprimand of the disbelievers and a stopping of them regarding their addressing the enemy while neglecting the One who has bestowed upon them all His blessings, both small and large. The meaning of the words is: 'And remember when We said,' and this phrase has been repeated wherever this story has been repeated as it is an introduction to the reprimand. The mention of the reprimand here is a prelude to the admonition, and it was mentioned in Al-Baqarah as a notification of the principles of matters.

The interpreters have differed regarding the prostration to Adam. One group said: It is the known prostration, placing the face on the ground, which Allah, exalted and majestic is He, made from the angels as an act of worship for Him and an honor for Adam. This is like the prayer to the Kaaba. Another group said: Rather, it was a gesture from them towards the ground, and that is called prostration; because prostration in the speech of the Arabs is a term for the utmost humility. Among them is the saying of the poet:

You see the hills in it prostrating to the hooves.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is permissible for the Creator to command the superior for the sake of the superior, and it is permissible for the superior to do so for the sake of the superior. Among them is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Stand up to your master,' and among them is the kissing of the hand of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah by Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, when he met him on a journey to the Levant, as mentioned by Sa'id ibn Mansur in his compilation.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Except Iblis," a group said: It is an exception that is disconnected; because Iblis is not from the angels, rather he is from the jinn, and they are the devils created from a smokeless fire. All the angels were created from light. This group disagreed - some of them said: Iblis is from the jinn, and he is their first and the beginning of them, like Adam is from mankind. And another group said: Rather, Iblis and his kind were jinn, but all the devils today are from his offspring. So he is like Nuh among mankind. They argued with this verse, and the reprimand of Iblis for his disobedience necessitates that he was commanded along with the angels.

And a group said: The exception is connected, and Iblis is from the kind of angels created from fire. So Iblis is from the angels, and he referred to the angels as jinn because they are hidden. Thus, it is a description that encompasses both the angels and the devils. Some of this group said: There was a type among the angels called jinn, and they were in the lower heavens and on earth, and Iblis was the one managing their affairs.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: There is no disagreement that Iblis was among the angels in meaning; as he was acting with command and prohibition, sent forth. The angel is derived from malakah, which means message. So he is counted among the angels, as indicated by His saying: "Prostrate," and in Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah Al-A'raf, there is a comprehensive discussion of these matters.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So he became disobedient," its meaning is: he exited and distanced himself. And Ru'bah said:

They descend in Najd and in a deep abyss, So they are disobedient, away from their intent.

And from this, it is said: "The ripe fruit became disobedient" when it exited from its peel, and "the mouse became disobedient" when it exited from its burrow. All this exiting used in these examples is indeed in corruption. And the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Five disobedient creatures should be killed in the sacred and non-sacred places" indicates that they are corruptors.

And His saying, exalted is He: "From the command of his Lord," it is possible that he means: he exited from the command of his Lord to him, that is, he departed from it, as one who exits from a single path, meaning: from it. And it is possible that he means: he exited from obedience after the command of his Lord regarding it. And "from" can come with the meaning of "after" in many instances, like your saying: "I fed him from hunger," and similar. So it is as if the meaning is: he became disobedient because of the command of his Lord to obey. And it is possible that he means: he exited by the command of his Lord, meaning: by His will for him. And he expresses the will by command; as it is one of the matters. This is like saying: I did that by your command, meaning: by your seriousness and according to your intent.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said regarding the story of this verse: Iblis was from the noblest kind, and he had dominion over the heavens and dominion over the earth. When he disobeyed, his state became as you hear. And some scholars said: If a person's sin is from error, then hope for him like Adam. But if it is from disbelief, then do not hope for him like Iblis.

Then, the Exalted and Mighty stopped the disbelievers - in the context of reprimand - by saying: "Do you take him?" He means: Do you take Iblis? And His saying: "and his offspring" clearly indicates the whispering devils among the shayatin who command what is wrong and lead to falsehood. Al-Tabari mentioned that Mujahid said: The offspring of Iblis are the shayatin, and he counted them: "Zalambur," the one in charge of the markets, who places his banner in every market, and "Tubun," the one in charge of calamities, and "Al-A'war," the one in charge of showing off, and "Miswat," the one in charge of news, who brings it and throws it into the mouths of people, and they find no basis for it, and "Dasim," who, when a man enters his house and does not greet or mention the name of Allah, he shows him from his belongings what he would not have seen otherwise.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this and what is similar to it, for which there is no authentic report, is why I have summarized it. The commentator has elaborated on this meaning and brought stories that are far from being authentic, so I left them for brevity, and nothing authentic has come to me in this except what is in the book of Muslim that there is a shaytan for whispering during ablution called "Khinzab," and Al-Tirmidhi mentioned that there is a shaytan for ablution called "Al-Walhan," and Allah knows best the details of these matters; there is no Lord other than Him.

And His saying, the Exalted, "And they are enemies to you" means: enemies, for it is a name of the genus.

And His saying: "Evil is for the wrongdoers as a substitute" means: he has exchanged the guardianship of Allah, the Exalted and Mighty, for the guardianship of Iblis and his offspring, and that is the compensation from the jinn for falsehood, and this is the very essence of wrongdoing because it places something in a place other than its rightful one.