'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted, said: "And We had indeed taken a covenant from Adam before, but he forgot, and We found not in him determination." "And when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam,' they prostrated except for Iblis; he refused." "So We said, 'O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife, so let him not remove you from Paradise and cause you to suffer.'" Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The meaning is: If these disbelievers turn away from My signs and oppose My messengers and obey Iblis, then certainly their father Adam did that long ago. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This interpretation is weak, as Adam being an example for the disbelieving deniers is not significant. Adam only disobeyed due to interpretation, and this is a slight against him, blessings and peace be upon him. As for the apparent meaning in this verse, it may either be the beginning of a story that has no connection to what came before, or it may be made to relate that when Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded not to hasten with the Quran, he was presented with a prophet before him who was commanded and forgot, and was punished; so that it would be more severe in warning and more eloquent in the command to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And the command here means the recommendation, and 'forgot' means 'left.' The forgetfulness of oblivion does not apply here, as there is no punishment for the one who forgets. Al-A'mash read: 'And he forgot' with the ya' being silent, and its meaning is to seek ease. And 'determination' means to persist in the belief in anything. Adam, peace be upon him, was believing that he would not eat from the tree, but when Iblis whispered to him, he did not determine upon his belief. Some of the interpreters expressed 'determination' here as patience, preservation, and other meanings that are broader than the reality of determination. The thing that was commanded to Adam, peace be upon him, was not to approach the tree, and he was informed along with that that Iblis is an enemy to him. Abu Umamah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: If the dreams of the children of Adam were gathered from the time Allah created creation until the Day of Resurrection and placed in one side of a scale, and the dream of Adam, peace be upon him, was placed in the other side, it would outweigh them. And Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: 'And We found not in him determination.'

'And His saying, the Most High: "And when We said to the angels, 'Prostrate to Adam'" is the beginning of the story. The subject of 'when' is an implied action. The full account of this story has already been covered, but we will mention what the words of this verse necessitate. It is said that all the angels were commanded to do so, and it is said that a distinguished group among them numbered twenty-two. The 'prostration' that they were commanded to perform was a prostration of honor to Adam, blessings of Allah be upon him, and an act of worship to Allah, the Most High. His saying: "Except for Iblis" is a connected exception according to the saying of those who consider Iblis to be among the angels, and it is a disconnected exception according to the saying of those who say he is from a kind other than the angels called the jinn. His saying: "So let not the two of you be expelled from Paradise, lest you be distressed" means: do not obey him in his temptation, for that would be the cause of your expulsion from Paradise. Then he specified Adam, peace be upon him, with his saying: "lest you be distressed" as the one addressed first was the intended one in the speech. It is said that this is because Allah, the Most High, has placed distress in the livelihood of men. It has been narrated that when Adam, peace be upon him, was sent down, he descended with a red bull, and he would plow and wipe the sweat, and this is the distress that he was warned about.