Commentary
The word 'idh' is منصوب (accusative) with an implied subject, meaning: and remember the time when he faced enmity from Iblis and his whispering to him, and his beautifying for him the eating from the tree, and his obedience to him after the prior advice and eloquent admonition and warning against his cunning, so that it becomes clear to you that he was not among those of determination and steadfastness. If you say: Iblis was a jinn, as evidenced by His saying, 'He was of the jinn, and he disobeyed the command of his Lord,' then from where did he receive the command which is specific to the angels? I say: He was in their company, and he worshipped Allah, the Exalted, as they did. When they were commanded to prostrate to Adam and to humble themselves before him as an honor to him, the jinn who was with them was even more deserving of humility, just as if one were to stand up for someone who is coming to the gathering, among his family and his elite. Standing for one of them who is beneath them in rank is more obligatory, even if he does not stand, he would be reprimanded. And it was said to him: So-and-so has stood, so who are you to refuse to stand? If you say: How is it correct to exclude him while he is a jinn from the angels? I say: He acted according to the rule of predominance in applying the name of angels to them and to him, so the exception was made based on that, like your saying: They left except for so-and-so, for a woman among men, which is a complete sentence, as if it were a response to one who said: Why did he not prostrate? The correct view is that no object is to be estimated for him, which is the prostration indicated by His saying, 'So they prostrated,' and that his meaning was to show greater refusal and hesitation.
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