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qulnā hbiṭū minhā jamīʿan fa-ʾimmā yaʾtiyannakum minnī hudan fa-man tabiʿa hudāya fa-lā khawfun ʿalayhim wa-lā hum yaḥzanūna
We said, ‘Get down from it, all together! Yet, should any guidance come to you from Me, those who follow My guidance shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 37-39
Then Adam received (certain) words from his Lord. And He turned towards him (mercifully). Truly He is Oft-Pardoning, the Most Merciful. (2:37)
We said: ‘Get you down from it, all together; until there shall come to you a guidance from Me, for whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve’. (2:38)
But those who reject Faith and deny Our Signs, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, dwelling therein forever. (2:39)
Adam’s Return to Allah
After the temptation of Iblis and the removal of Adam from the Garden, Adam realized that he had truly done injustice to himself when he was removed from that quiet environment full of bounties as a result of the temptation of Iblis and was placed on the earth, a grievous environment full of toil and pain. At this time, Adam thought of compensation for his mistake and earnestly attended to the Lord with his whole heart and soul, but with a great deal of regret and penitence.
At the same time, the Mercy of Allah was bestowed on him with ‘some effective words’ by the means of which Adam repented, and He accepted his repentance mercifully; as the Qur’an says:
Then Adam received (certain) words from his Lord. And He turned towards him (mercifully)... (2:37)
It did happen because:
…Truly He is Oft-Pardoning, the Most Merciful. (2:37)
The term / Tawbah / originally means: ‘to return’. In the statements of the Qur’an, it means: ‘to return from sin’. This meaning is applied when it refers to a sinful person. But, sometimes, the term is used when concerning Allah. In this case, it means ‘to return to His Mercy’; that is, the mercy which a person was deprived of because of committing sin. When a sinful one returns to the path of obedience and worship, He returns that Mercy to him/her, too. That is why the Lord is attributed as ‘Oft-Returning’, too.
By the way, it should be noted that the Arabic word / Tawbah /, which is generally understood as ‘repentance’, does not imply the mere utterance of any verbal prayers. It demands a real and active change in the behaviour as well as the active attitude of the individual towards the purity of his/her life. It demands a moral conversion with a strong and definite determination on the part of the repenting individual, never again to return to the mistake or the wrong that had been committed before.
In other words, the term / Tawbah / ‘repentance’ is a word commonly used both for Allah and His servants. When it is used for the servants of Allah, it means that ‘they have returned to their Lord’, because any sinner, in fact, has abandoned his Lord, and when the servant repents, he/she returns to Him. When servants fail to obey their Lord, it seems that they cause Him, also, to turn away from them. When Allah is attributed with / Tawbah /, it means that He returns His Mercy and Favour to them.
It is true that Adam, indeed, did not do any unlawful thing against the Lord, but that very mistake was counted a. ‘a comparative wrong’ regarding him. Adam (‘a) immediately felt his condition and returned to his Lord. He repented by the means of the ‘words’ he received, and his repentance was accepted. But what the nature of the ‘words’ was will be discussed separately under the title of’ Explanation’. Anyhow, Adam’s repentance was accepted but not abstaining from the use of the fruit of the prohibited tree which had a potential innate effect ultimately resulted in the form of his settlement on the earth. This consequence remained unchanged for the couple, as the above verses say:
We said: ‘Get you down from it, all together; until there shall come to you a guidance from Me, for whoever follows My guidance, no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve’. (2:38)
But those who reject Faith and deny Our Signs, they are the inhabitants of the Fire, dwelling therein forever. (2:39)
Explanation: The ‘Words’ Adam (‘A) Learnt from The Lord
Commentators have cited different ideas commenting on the quality and the meaning of the ‘words’ that Allah taught Adam (‘a). Mere common sense suggests that what was bestowed upon Adam by the All-Knowing, All-Merciful Lord could not have been anything of an ordinary prayer. It must have been something very special or extraordinary which the All-Merciful Himself bestowed upon him by means of which Adam (‘a) or anyone could unfailingly invoke the Mercy of the Lord after having displeased Him.
It is popularly accepted that the ‘words’ were the same words and meanings revealed in Surah Al-’A’raf thus:
They said: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: if Thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost’ (7:23)
A group of commentators have said that the purpose of the ‘words’ might have been this invocation:
“O’ Lord! There is no deity but You! Glory be to You, and Yours is the Praise! O’ my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me! For Thou art the Best of those who forgive”. Or “...And have mercy upon me: for Thou art the Best of those who show mercy!” Or “...And turn unto me (in Mercy); for Thou art verily the Oft-Returning, Most Merciful!”
This idea has been cited in a tradition narrated from Imam al-Baqir (‘a), the fifth Imam.9 Some phrases similar to the above ones have occurred in the Qur’an. For example, Jonah (Yunus) (‘a), asking Allah to forgive him, says:
…Glory to Thee: I was indeed wrong! (21:87)
And, about Moses (‘a), the Qur’an says:
He prayed: ‘O’ my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul! Do Thou then forgive me! ‘So (Allah) forgave him…’ (28:16)
Many Islamic traditions narrated from Ahl al-Bayt (‘a), such as Tafsir al-Durr al-Manthur, denote that the objective meaning of the ‘words’ taught to Adam (‘a) by Allah was the holy names of the Holy Five; viz: the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S), his cousin and son-in-law Hazrat ‘Ali, his daughter Fatimah, and his sons (i.e. grandsons) Hasan and Husayn (‘a). Adam (‘a) relied on these ‘words’ and asked Him to forgive him. Then, Allah accepted it and forgave him.
These three commentaries do not contradict one another since the entirety of the ‘words’ might have been taught to Adam (‘a) in order that, through their (the ‘words’) reality, depth, and innate nature, he could obtain a pure perfect spiritual change in his heart and soul totally so that Allah would shower him with His Grace and Guidance.
Footnotes