Story of Adam and Iblis– It all started when God created the Universe. He poured His love into what He had made.
His infinite love soon gave birth to beings.
He created angels (from light), jinns (from fire), and animals and plants. He loved them all. The angels had no free will, so they praised Him all the time, but they couldn’t love Him or feel love because love is something that comes with free will. The jinns weren’t good enough—obviously, because they had the nature of fire (Qur’an 15:27). The Universe needed love.
Allah wanted to express His attributes and qualities, so He created the human being, Adam (Qur’an 38:71–72).
He created Adam (His best creation), not from light or fire or water, but from dust (Qur’an 38:76). And no one knew that this being emerging from dust would be loved so much that God would send 134,000 prophets to them. So much that ‘the mercy to the worlds’ would be one of them (Qur’an 21:107). That was Al-Insān. Adam was created, and it was ordered that some of God’s creations bow before Adam (Qur’an 2:34). Adam’s rank was raised above the ranks of other creations. Al-Insān was called the ‘Best of the creation’ (Qur’an 95:4).
Among the beings that were ordered to bow was one who was considered to be the best of them. Even though he was a jinn, he was raised to the ranks of the angels. That was Iblis.
Iblis had worshipped God all his life. A jinn that had ascended to one of the top-ranked creations was now being ordered to bow before a creation composed of dust. How could he? He should have, but he didn’t. Even though he knew the outcome, he was arrogant. ‘A mighty being of fire bowing before mere dust?’ he thought. But little did he know God’s plans. God loved Adam so much that He cast out Iblis as soon as the words came out of Iblis’s mouth (Qur’an 7:12-18). Iblis was now Shaytan (Satan). He had now fallen from the rank of an angel to the worst of beings. He was now an enemy of God.
Iblis said, “By Your might, I’ll continue to mislead them” (Qur’an 38:82).
Allah replied, “Those who have faith in Me will never listen to you” (Qur’an 15:42).
Iblis left, and Allah gave Adam life. Allah sent him into Jannah, and Adam lived there for some time until he felt lonely. Allah created Eve. Eve was created from Adam’s rib and was made a partner for Adam (Hadith, Sahih al-Bukhari 3331). She was the first woman to be created. Allah is the only one who is self-sufficient (Qur’an 112:2). Therefore, Adam was given a partner, and they were both ordered to live in Jannah but were prohibited from eating from a specific tree (Qur’an 2:35).
But Iblis couldn’t accept that they were happy and fulfilling the commandments of their Lord. So he whispered for the first time. He whispered to Eve that there was something in that tree that was being hidden from them — that they would have knowledge they didn’t possess at that time. Eve was convinced, and she convinced Adam as well. So they both ate, and regret followed (Qur’an 7:20-22).
Guilt for doing what was against the will of Allah crept into their hearts. They knew Allah wouldn’t be approving of what they had done. And so it was! Allah expelled them from Heaven (Qur’an 2:36). They were sent to Earth. Shaytan was happy that he had accomplished what he had said. But what he didn’t know was that Adam was different. Iblis did the wrong thing, and so did Adam. Iblis was thrown out of Jannah, and so was Adam. But Iblis lacked one thing that Adam had. Regret, guilt, consciousness of right and wrong — these were what made the difference. And Allah’s support was what Iblis lacked. Humility was what Iblis lacked.
But Adam had all of it, and consequently, as soon as he was banished, he started asking for forgiveness. He had realised that Allah loved him and wanted to test his love for Allah. So Adam began to grow his love for Allah by continuously asking for forgiveness (Qur’an 2:37). Adam knew that he needed to fill that void between his passion and Allah’s love. He kept on showing gratitude and asking for forgiveness.
However, Allah’s love was infinite, and Adam couldn’t hold that much love. Adam was a limited being; he couldn’t fill that space. But Adam was adamant, and that was how Allah made him. So he kept on pushing his limits. He kept trying more and more. He kept on increasing his love until he reached a form of love that was the highest a human could get. No one could imagine going beyond that limit of love. Adam loved Allah so much that he started worshipping Allah. He began praying to Allah in the morning and the evening, during the day and the night. Be it rain or sunshine, bright — he prayed, for Allah was light (Qur’an 24:35).
Even though the form of love Adam had attained was the best he could do, it still wasn’t equal to the love Allah had for him.
So, because of that love and mercy for Adam, Allah accepted what Adam had asked. Allah accepted his apology. And Adam attained peace and a form of love no one could overcome. But it became a necessity for every human being to come: to worship Allah.
Because if he or she did not, then the void between him and Allah wouldn’t be filled, and he/she wouldn’t be able to attain peace. His/her heart would be empty. And everyone who does this and fulfills the commandments would be able to re-enter their home — re-enter the Heaven, Paradise, or Jannah — and live there for eternity with their Lord, with Allah, because He is the only one who loves me, you, and everyone! (Qur’an 51:56).
By: Syed Souman Nazki
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