Ṭāhā

وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَآ إِلَي ءَادَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً

وإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلآَئِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لاِدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلآَّ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَي

115. “And We had made covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found in him no constancy.”
116. “And when We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate to Adam’, they (all) prostrated except Iblis; he refused.”

From the beginning of the Qur’an up to here, this is the sixth occurrence where we recite about the story of Adam and Iblis. Before this, there have also been some remarks mentioned in Suras Al-Baqarah, Al-’A‘raf, Al-Hijr, Al-’Isra’, and Al-Kahf. The purpose of ‘covenant’, mentioned in this verse, is the command of Allah saying not to eat from that particular plant; and the objective meaning of ‘forgot’ is the lack of care in fulfilling the command of Allah (s.w.t.), otherwise, an absolute forgetfulness does not deserve warning and criticism.

The purpose of ‘constancy’, mentioned in the above, is ‘a firm will’ before the temptations of Iblis. Imam Kazem (as) says:

“The command of prostration and then the disobedience of Satan is a kind of solace for the Prophet of Islam (S) meaning that if his command was not obeyed, he would not be worried since Iblis did not obey His command, either.” ¹

As it was mentioned before, the struggle of ‘right and wrong’ is not limited to the present time and past time, or to Moses (as) and Pharaoh. It has existed since the time of the creation of Adam and it continues forever. At first, the Qur’an refers to the convent of Adam with Allah. It says:

The purpose of this covenant cited in the abovementioned verse, is the command of Allah meaning that they would not approach the prohibited tree. No doubt Adam did not commit any sin, but what he did was ‘leaving the better’. The course of dwelling Adam inside Heaven, in principle, was an experimental course for him to be prepared for the life of the present world and accepting the responsibility of duties. Then, the Qur’an has pointed to another part of this story, when the verse says:

Here, by this statement, the great rank and position of Adam is made manifest, Adam whom all angels prostrated for. Moreover, the enmity of Iblis against him, from very beginning, is also manifested. There is no doubt that prostration, in the sense of worship, is allocated to Allah (s.w.t.), and besides Allah no one and nothing can be worshipped. Thus, the prostration of angels was done before Allah (s.w.t.), but for the sake of the creation of this great creature, Adam, who was eligible of the praise of that Creator.