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اَلْبَقَرَۃِ
The Cow

وَ اِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةِ اِنِّيْ جَاعِلٌ فِي الْاَرْضِ خَلِيْفَةً ؕ قَالُوْٓا اَتَجْعَلُ فِيْهَا مَنْ يُّفْسِدُ فِيْهَا وَ يَسْفِكُ الدِّمَآءَ وَ نَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَ نُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ؕ قَالَ اِنِّيْٓ اَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُوْنَ۔ وَ عَلَّمَ اٰدَمَ الْاَسْمَآءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةِ فَقَالَ اَنْ٘بِـُٔوْنِيْ بِاَسْمَآءِ هٰٓؤُلَآءِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ صٰدِقِيْنَ۔ قَالُوْا سُبْحٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ اِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ؕ اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيْمُ الْحَكِيْمُ۔ قَالَ يٰٓاٰدَمُ اَنْ٘بِئْهُمْ بِاَسْمَآىِٕهِمْ فَلَمَّآ اَنْ٘بَاَهُمْ بِاَسْمَآىِٕهِمْ قَالَ اَلَمْ اَقُلْ لَّكُمْ اِنِّيْٓ اَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ اَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُوْنَ وَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْتُمُوْنَ۔ وَ اِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةِ اسْجُدُوْا لِاٰدَمَ فَسَجَدُوْٓا اِلَّآ اِبْلِيْسَ ؕ اَبٰى وَ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَ كَانَ مِنَ الْكٰفِرِيْنَ۔ وَ قُلْنَا يٰٓاٰدَمُ اسْكُنْ اَنْتَ وَ زَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَ كُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَ لَا تَقْرَبَا هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُوْنَا مِنَ الظّٰلِمِيْنَ۔ فَاَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطٰنُ عَنْهَا فَاَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيْهِ وَ قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوْا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَ لَكُمْ فِي الْاَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَّ مَتَاعٌ اِلٰى حِيْنٍ۔ فَتَلَقّٰٓى اٰدَمُ مِنْ رَّبِّهٖ كَلِمٰتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ اِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيْمُ۔ قُلْنَا اهْبِطُوْا مِنْهَا جَمِيْعًا فَاِمَّا يَاْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِّنِّيْ هُدًى فَمَنْ تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ لَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُوْنَ۔ وَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا وَ كَذَّبُوْا بِاٰيٰتِنَآ اُولٰٓىِٕكَ اَصْحٰبُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيْهَا خٰلِدُوْنَ۔

So when your Lord told the angels: “I am placing an overlord on earth”, they said: “Will You place someone there who will corrupt it and shed blood, while we hymn Your praise and sanctify You?” He said: “I know something you do not know.” 

He taught Adam all the names of everything; then presented them to the angels, and said: “Tell me the names of these if you are so truthful.” They said: “Glory be to You; we have no knowledge except whatever You have taught us. You are the Aware, the Wise!” He said: “Adam, tell them their names.” 

Once he had told them their names, He said: “Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen in Heaven and Earth? I know whatever you disclose and whatever you have been hiding.” 

So We told the angels: “Bow down on your knees before Adam.” They [all] knelt down except for Diabolis [Satan]. He refused and acted proudly, and became a disbeliever. 

We [God] said: “Adam, settle down in the Garden, both you and your wife, and eat freely from it anywhere either of you may wish. Yet do not approach this tree lest you become wrongdoers.”

Satan made them stumble over it and had them both expelled from where they had been [living]. We said: “Clear out! Some of you will [become] enemies of others. You will have a resting place on earth a enjoyment for a while.” 

Adam received words [of inspiration] from his Lord and he turned towards Him. He is the Relenting, the Merciful! 

We said: “Clear out from it together! If you should be handed guidance from Me, then anyone who follows My guidance will have no fear nor will they be saddened; while those who disbelieve and reject Our signs will become inmates of the Fire; they shall remain in it!”

The literal meaning of ‘khalifah’ or ‘caliph’ is ‘one who takes another’s place’—a successor. In the age of hereditary rule, it was generally used for a monarch who took the place of his predecessor. According to this usage, the word came to refer to one invested with power. When God created man to dwell on earth, He decreed that he might enjoy freedom of will. The angels became apprehensive of man being corrupted by this grant of power and free will and, as a consequence, spreading evil and causing bloodshed in the world. History showed that their fears were well founded. God was also fully aware of this possibility. But He had a particular reason for investing man with power and freedom on earth. If many human beings were to be corrupted by their power, there would also be a substantial number who, in spite of their power and freedom on earth, would acknowledge God’s greatness and power and their own helplessness. Such people would, of their own free will, adopt the path of submission and obedience to God. Although comparatively few in number, they would be specially prized above all others. They would be just like the food grains at harvest time, which, although greatly outweighed in bulk by chaff and straw, are the truly valued part of the crop. (Indeed if the chaff and straw are permitted to grow, it is solely so that people may have access to grain.)

The mixture of good and evil in mankind became evident when God, in His omnipotence, brought all the progeny of Adam before their first father. He said to the angels, ‘Look, these are the progeny of Adam. Can you give me the name of each one of them, and say what sort of people they will be?’ The angels, having no knowledge of them, were unable to answer. Then God told Adam their names and characteristics, and then commanded him to pass the knowledge on to the angels. When Adam had explained to them the nature of the human race, they realized that, besides the wicked and the corrupt, there would also be among their number great, righteous and pious souls.

Man’s greatest crimes, after the denial of his Lord, are spreading corruption and causing bloodshed in the world. Neither an individual nor a group has God’s permission to indulge in such actions as may disrupt the order of nature established by God. For example, no man should take the life of another: all actions of this nature disqualify mankind from receiving God’s mercy. In short, preserving the system of nature is ‘to reform’ it, while upsetting this system is equal ‘to spreading corruption’.

When God made Adam stand up in front of the angels including Iblis (Satan), and tested them by commanding them to bow down before Adam, He was giving the first man on earth a practical demonstration of the two paths that would be open to his progeny. Either they would follow the example of the angels and bow to God’s commandments, even if it meant bowing before someone they held inferior to themselves; or else they would be proud like Satan, and refuse to bow to others. This is the test that man faces throughout his entire life. Here on earth man is constantly faced with two alternative courses of action. He can either follow the course set by the angels and carry out God’s commandments by bowing before truth and justice in all that he does; or he can act as Satan did and, letting himself be controlled by arrogance and contempt, refuse to concede the right of others.

The practical lesson of the forbidden tree demonstrates how man goes astray by letting himself be deceived by Satan, and exceeding the bounds that God has laid down for him. As soon as he eats of the ‘forbidden fruit’, he is deprived of God’s grace or, in other words, Paradise. But this loss is not an irretrievable one. Man still has an opportunity to turn in repentance to his Lord, rectify his actions and seek forgiveness for his sins. When he turns to the Lord in repentance, God relents towards him, and cleanses him of his sins, as if he had never committed them.

The preacher of truth is an ‘Adam’; it is for people to bow before him. If, carried away by pride and prejudice, they refuse to acknowledge his position, they are following in Satan’s footsteps. Such a denial amounts to having failed the test devised for man by God.

God does not become plainly visible in this world; He reveals Himself through His signs, thereby testing his creatures. It is only those who can interpret His signs who will discover God Himself.