His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We said, O Adam, dwell you and your wife in Paradise and eat from it freely wherever you wish, but do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers." "Then the devil caused them to slip from it and brought them out from what they were in. And We said, 'Descend, some of you are enemies to others, and for you in the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.'"

"Dwell" means: to remain in residence. Its wording is that of a command, and its meaning is permission. "You" is an affirmation of the pronoun in "dwell." "Your wife" is an addition to it. The wife is the woman of the man, and this is more common than 'spouse.' It has been mentioned before. "Paradise" is the garden in which there is a fence.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the Paradise in which Adam was placed: is it the eternal Paradise or a Paradise prepared for them? Those who did not consider it to be the eternal Paradise argued that whoever enters the eternal Paradise does not exit from it. This is not impossible. However, it has been reported that whoever enters it as a reward does not exit from it. As for one who enters it initially like Adam, it is not impossible, nor has there been any report that he does not exit from it.

There is a disagreement about when Hawwa (Eve) was created from Adam's rib, peace be upon him. Ibn Abbas said: When the angels were informed of the names and were commanded to prostrate to him, sleep was cast upon him, and Hawwa was created. He awoke and she was at his side. He said - according to what they claim -: 'My flesh and blood, and a companion to me.' The angels went to test his knowledge, and they said to him: 'O Adam, what is her name?' He said: 'Hawwa.' They said: 'Why?' He said: 'Because she was created from something living.' Then Allah said to him: "Dwell you and your wife in Paradise."

Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas also said: When Adam was placed in Paradise, he walked in it feeling lonely. When he slept, Hawwa was created from his shorter rib so that he could find comfort with her and feel companionship. When he awoke, he saw her and said: 'Who are you?' She said: 'A woman created from your rib so that you may find comfort with me.'

The noon was omitted from "eat" for the command, and the first alif was omitted due to the movement of the kaf, when the second was omitted due to the occurrence of two similar letters, which is an unusual omission. The wording of this command with "eat" means permission, as indicated by his saying: "wherever you wish," and the pronoun in "from it" refers back to "Paradise." Ibn Wathab and al-Nakha'i read "freely" with a sukoon on the ghain, while the majority read it with a fathah. "Freely" is the abundant, pleasant living that has no hardship in it, and from it is the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

'While a man sees him comfortable, secure from calamities in a life of abundance.'

And "freely" is in the accusative as an adjective for a deleted source, and it has been said that it is an accusative in the position of a circumstantial phrase. "Wherever" is built on the dammah, and among the Arabs are those who build it on the fathah, and among the Arabs are those who inflect it according to its position with the nominative, accusative, and genitive, as in His saying: "We will gradually lead them from where they do not know" [Al-A'raf: 182]. And among the Arabs are those who say: "Hawth."

'And 'sh'ituma' its origin is 'shi'ituma' transformed into 'fa'al'tuma'. Its 'ya' moved and what precedes it opened, thus 'sha'ituma' came. The silent elongated 'alif' was deleted for the sake of meeting, and the 'sheen' was broken to indicate the 'ya'. So 'sh'ituma' came. This is the explanation of Al-Mubarrad. As for Sibawayh, the origin with him is 'shi'ituma' with the 'ya' broken. The movement of the 'ya' was transferred to the 'sheen', and the 'ya' was deleted afterwards.

And His saying, the Most High: 'And do not approach this tree' means: do not approach it by eating, because the permissibility in it has occurred. Some of the experts said: When Allah intended to prohibit eating from the tree, He prohibited it with a wording that necessitates eating and what leads to it, which is proximity.

And Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a clear example in blocking the means. Ibn Muhaisin read: 'hadhihi' on the origin, and the 'ha' in 'hadhihi' is a substitute for the 'ya'. And there is no broken feminine 'ha' in the speech before it except this one. And this indication can refer to a specific tree or to a type. Harun Al-A'war narrated from some scholars the reading of 'al-shajarah' with a broken 'sheen'. And 'shajar' is everything that stands from the plant on a stem.

And there was disagreement regarding this 'shajarah' which He prohibited. Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas said: It is the vine, and for this reason wine was prohibited for us. Ibn Jurayj reported from some of the companions: It is the fig tree. Ibn Abbas also said, and Abu Malik, and Atiyyah, and Qatadah: It is the ear of grain, and its grain is sweeter than honey and softer than butter. It was also narrated from Ibn Abbas that it is the tree of knowledge in which are the fruits of everything. And this is weak and not authentic from Ibn Abbas. Al-Tabari narrated from Ya'qub ibn 'Utbah that it is the tree which the angels would use to suckle for immortality, and this is also weak. It was said: And the Jews claim that it is the colocynth, and they say: It was sweet and became bitter since then.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And there is nothing in this specification that supports it with a report. Rather, the correct belief is that Allah, the Exalted, prohibited Adam from a tree, and he disobeyed and ate from it.

And in His prohibition, the Most High, upon Adam regarding the tree, there is an indication that his residence in Paradise will not last; for the immortal is not prohibited from anything, nor is he commanded or forbidden. It was said: This tree was specified in that it would necessitate its eater to relieve himself, and for that reason it was prohibited. So when he ate and Paradise was not a place for relieving oneself, he was brought down to the earth.

And His saying: 'So you become' is in the position of a jussive by conjunction with 'do not approach', and it is permissible for it to be in the accusative as a response, and the one that causes it according to Al-Khalil and Sibawayh is the implied 'an'. And according to Al-Jurmi, it is the 'fa'.

And the 'dhallim' in the language is the one who places something in the wrong position, and from it is their saying: 'Whoever resembles his father has not wronged.' And from it is the 'mahdhumeh' which means the skinning because the rain did not come to it at its time. And from it is the saying of Amr ibn Qami'ah:

'The injustice of the plains by it is the crescent of a greedy one, and the waters became clear to him after the storm.'

And injustice in the rulings of Sharia is of levels: the highest is shirk, then the injustice of sins, and these are levels.

And in this verse, it indicates that His saying: ﴿And do not approach﴾ is in the sense of obligation, not recommendation, because one who abandons the recommended is not called unjust. Thus, the term injustice necessitates the strength of the prohibition.

And "He caused them to slip" is derived from [zall], and in the verse, it is metaphorical, because it pertains to opinion and consideration, while the reality of slipping is in the foot. Abu Ali said: "So He caused them to slip" can have two interpretations: one is that they earned the slip, and the other is that it may be from [zall] if one stumbles. Hamzah read: "So He removed them" derived from [zawal], as if the remover, when his temptation leads to removal, and this is the reading of Al-Hasan and Abu Rujai.

There is no disagreement among the scholars that Iblis the accursed is the one who leads Adam astray.

And they differed in the manner: Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, and the majority of scholars said: He led them astray directly, and the evidence for that is His saying: "And He swore to them," and swearing implies direct speech. Some of them said: When Iblis entered upon Adam, he spoke to him in his state, saying: O Adam, how beautiful this is if it were eternal. Thus, Iblis found a way to lead him astray. He said: Shall I guide you to the tree of eternity? And some said: He entered Paradise in the mouth of the serpent, which had four legs like a Bukhit after he offered himself to many of the animals, but only the serpent accepted him. He then went to Hawwa and took something from the tree, saying: Look how beautiful this is, and he led her astray until she ate. Then he led Adam astray, and Hawwa said to him: Eat, for I have eaten and it did not harm me. So he ate, and their nakedness became apparent to them, and they fell under the judgment of sin. The serpent was cursed, and it turned their limbs inside it, and enmity was established between it and the children of Adam.

And it was said to Hawwa: As you caused the tree to bleed, so blood will come upon you every month, and you will bear with hardship and give birth with hardship, and you will be close to death repeatedly. Al-Tabari and Al-Naqqash added: And you will be foolish, although you were once wise.

And a group said: Iblis did not enter Paradise to Adam after he was expelled from it, but rather led Adam astray with his devilry, authority, and whispers that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, granted him, as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, the devil flows through the son of Adam like blood." The pronoun in "from it" refers back to "the tree" in the reading of those who read "He caused them to slip," and it is possible that it returns to "Paradise." As for those who read "He removed them," it only returns to "Paradise." Here, there is an omitted element indicated by the apparent meaning, which is to estimate: "So they ate from the tree." And some said: They ate from something other than that which was indicated, and they did not interpret the prohibition as applying to all of its kind. Others said: They interpreted the prohibition as a recommendation.

And Ibn Al-Musayyib said: Adam only ate after Hawwa fed him wine, so he was not in his right mind.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So He expelled them from what they were in" has several interpretations. It is said that He expelled them from obedience to disobedience. It is also said: from the blessing of Paradise to the misery of this world. And it is said: from a high status to a low status of sin. All of this is close in meaning. Abu Haywah read "descend" with a dammah on the ba, and many do so in non-transitive verbs, while "descend" is non-transitive. The descent is the movement from a high place to a lower one.

And there is disagreement about who is being addressed by the descent. Al-Suddi and others said: Adam, Hawwa, Iblis, and the serpent. Al-Hasan said: Adam, Hawwa, and the whispering. Others said: and the serpent, because Iblis had already been descended prior to his disobedience.

And "some of you are enemies to one another" is a phrase in the context of the situation, and the term "enemy" is singular in relation to the term "some." Both "some" and "all" are treated as singular, while the term "enemy" can apply to both singular and plural. Allah, exalted is He, said: "They are the enemy, so beware of them" [Al-Munafiqun: 4].

And "And for you in the earth is a place of settlement" means: a place of stability, as said by Abu Al-Aliyah and Ibn Zayd. Al-Suddi said: what is meant is the stability in the graves.

And the provision is what one enjoys: from food, clothing, life, conversation, companionship, and other than that. And Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik recited when he stood by the grave of his son Ayyub after his burial:

I stood by a strange grave, with dirt, A little provision from a beloved one who has departed.

And the interpreters have differed regarding the time here. One group said: until death, and this is the view of those who say: the settlement is the dwelling in this world. Another group said: until a time, until the Day of Resurrection, and this is the view of those who say: the settlement is in the graves. It can also be understood that the settlement in this world is meant by His saying "And for you" meaning: for your kinds in this world is a settlement and provision from one generation to another until the Day of Resurrection. The term "time" refers to a long duration of time, the shortest of which in oaths and obligations is a year. Allah, exalted is He, said: "It brings forth its fruit at all times by permission of its Lord" [Ibrahim: 25]. It has also been said that the shortest is six months, because some palm trees bear fruit every six months. The term "time" can also be used in conversations to refer to a short period. In His saying, exalted is He: "until a time" there is a benefit for Adam, peace be upon him, to know that he will not remain in it and will move to the Paradise which he was promised to return to, and it indicates for others the resurrection.

It has been narrated that Adam descended on a mountain from the mountains of Serendib, and that Hawwa descended in Jeddah, and that the serpent descended in Isfahan, and it was said in Maysan, and that Iblis descended at Al-Ubullah.