Surah Al-Baqarah 2:30-39 - Quran Translation Commentary

30. And (Recall) when your Lord said to the angels⁴⁰ : “I am going to place a khalifa (ruler)⁴¹ on the earth”. They said: “Will you place therein one who will make mischief and shed blood⁴² while we say hymns in your praise and glorify your sanctity?” He said : “Surely, I know what you do not know⁴³ .”

31. And He taught Adam all the names⁴⁴ , then placed them before the angels, saying: “Tell me the names of these if you are truthful⁴⁵ .”

32. They replied: “Glory to you ! We have no knowledge but what you have taught us. undoubtedly, You are the Knower, the Wise.”

33. He said: “O Adam, Inform them of their names” And when he had informed them of their names⁴⁶, He said: “Did I not tell you that I alone know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you disclose and what you were hiding”.

34. And (Recall) when We said to the angels : “Bow down to Adam, and they bowed down⁴⁷ ; except Iblis⁴⁸ (Devil) ; he refused through vanity; he became one of the in- fidels⁴⁹ ”.

35. And We said: “O Adam ! Live you and your wife in the Paradise⁵⁰, and eat freely of the bountiful things as and when you like, but do not go near this tree⁵¹ , lest you may find yourselves among the wrongdoers.

36. But Satan caused them to slip⁵² there from and to be expelled from the happy state in which they were; and We said: Go down, you are enemies of one another⁵³ ; there will be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time.

37. Then Adam learnt from his Lord a few words (of repentance) and He accepted his repentance⁵⁴. Surely, He is the Relenting and Most Merciful.

38. We said: “Go down, all of you from here⁵⁵; and when, as is sure, there comes a Guidance⁵⁶ from me whosoever follows my guidance there shall come to them no fear and no grief⁵⁷ .

39. But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs⁵⁸ , they are companion of the fire and will live there in eternally.

Commentary

40. The word used is ‘Malaika’ which is the plural of the word’ Malak’, which means messenger. In Urdu it is called ‘Farishta and in English’ Angel’

Angels are the rational beings created by Allah. They are endowed with virtuous and excellent qualities. They execute the orders of Allah in the Universe. They never disobey his orders, whatever order is given to them is order, whatever order is given to them is obeyed by them. They bring Allah’s messages (Revelation) to his prophets. They keep a record of men’s deeds. The act of taking away men’s souls is performed by them when ordered by Allah.

41. The word used here is ‘Khalifa’ (Caliph), which means ruler The idea of making Man as ruler in this world is to give limited powers and authority to men in this world and then to test them whether they use these powers and authority as desired by the Lord or use them for their selfish ends and become gods themselves.

This verse answers the basic question about the status of man in this world Man’s conduct and its fruits depend upon the answer to this question some think themselves free, autonomous and therefore do not consider themselves answerable to anyone. Such men give up their status as ruler answerable to God and arrogate petty god ships themselves. Their unrestrained conduct, their disregard for any duty towards their fellow-beings and their freedom from checks of conscience lead them to egotism and self-seeking. They are instruments of mischief, injustice and disharmony The Quran settles the question of man’s status in the scheme of things by revealing that he is ruler answerable to God. He has no power and authority in his own right. His power and authority are given to him by Allah for employing them righteously in the way of Allah. Acceptance of this answer leads to an entirely different sort of living and conduct. Following Allah’s laws and commands concerning individual and social life ensures peace, justice and fairplay. On the other hand, those who make their personal aggrandizement and self seeking the sole object of their conduct ’spell’ nothing but corruption, oppression and imbalance in society.

42. The angels feared that it would be difficult for man to use rightly the power and authority to be given to him. They feared that man would go astray with these powers and might use them so irresponsibly as to create disturbance, mischief and even bloodshed.

43. Allah replies to the misgivings of the angels by saying that they (the angels) did not know Allah’s scheme in making man ruler on earth. The angels had but one side of the picture before them. Once they know the whole picture they will realise the wisdom of Allah.

44. Here ‘names’ refer to the names of the progeny of Adam, especially the names of those who will do full justice to the responsibility as the ‘ruler’ by rightly using the powers and authority vested in them by Allah. This means that right from the beginning Adam was introduced to his progeny and this thing was particularly brought forth that from amongst the descendants of Adam there will be such personalities as will render valuable service on this earth: these will be like the most fragrant flowers of the earth on account of their great deeds.

45. The angels had expressed fear that man with the power given by Allah would only do mischief on the earth. Are they justified in their fear? Allah non-pulsed them by asking whether these names (of the righteous ones) were names of those who would do mischief on the earth. This was enough to silence them.

46. That is: Adam on the basis of the knowledge imparted to him by Allah disclosed that these virtuous men will be among his descendants, who will be loyal slaves to Allah and who will stake their lives in establishing peace and justice on the earth.

This aspect of the scheme of making man Khalifa was concealed from the angels. Allah tested the angels and informed them through Adam of this positive aspect of the scheme. This brings the following to light:

(a) Man was created for the most excellent purpose. The idea was to select from the battleground of evil and virtue those persons who possessed excellent virtuous qualities.

(b) Allah wants to pick out gems to bless them with the endless bounties from amongst the human beings so that their permanent abode will be paradise.

(c) If only a few aspects of Allah’s scheme are kept before our eyes, then we can form a wrong opinion about His scheme. But if the whole scheme is considered, which can be understood only if disclosed by Allah then the main purpose of this scheme can be understood.

(d) Those people, who do not try to understand Allah’s scheme that lies behind the creation of Man, are unable to comprehend the true status of Man in this world and are apt to misjudge the purpose of human life.

(e) Allah is knower and wise, therefore non of his works is without wisdom. If to a man’s defective vision and understanding any of His work appears to be defective, he should not make it a target of his objection, but should blame it on his own defective understanding.

( f ) Angels who are very close slaves to Allah had also erred, which only goes to prove that they are not infallible, which is a divine quality. Only Allah is free from all defects.

(g) The world’s correct and proper administration and management and the establishment of peace and justice in the world depends upon mans using the power and authority given to him by Allah as a sacred trust from Allah and using it according to His instructions and commands.

47. The order to bow down to Adam was as a mark of respect to Adam. It was given as a test of the angels. The creatures made from the light (angels) were asked to bow down before the creature made from the dust (Adam), so that it could be tested whether the angels would or would not follow the order. They obeyed the divine order and came out successful.

There was no aspect of ‘Shirk’ in worshipping any being other than Allah in the angels’ bowing down to Adam, as there was no conception of Adam as god and as it was done in obedience to Allah’s command.

It also establishes that by ordering the angels to bow down to man, Allah has raised the status of man. It is then very degrading for man to bow down before bricks and stones.

48. lblis is the name of Satan. He was a genie. Allah had commanded lblis also along with the other angels to bow down to Adam but he refused.

49. This explains the fact about the rejection of Faith, i.e. to refuse to obey any command of Allah on account of pride is rejection of Faith and Satan was guilty of this sin although Satan did not deny the existence of Allah.

50. This was a temporary paradise (Garden) in which Adam and Eve were allowed to stay as a test so that they may be made to feel that the deserving place for them to live is paradise alone and if they are misled by Satan, then they will deprive themselves of paradise.

51. Qur’an does not state what kind of tree it was or what fruits it bore nor does any of the Hadith mention the kind to which this tree belonged. It is therefore futile to enter into any controversy about the fruit which was prohibited. The main point in prohibiting Adam from eating this fruit was to test him as to how far he and his wife would observe the Divine command in the face of the temptations provided by the Satan. For this purpose, selection of any tree was good enough.

But Satan caused them to slip there from and to be expelled from the happy state in which they were; and We said: Go down, you are enemies of one another ; there will be for you on earth a habitation and provision for a time. Then Adam learnt from his Lord a few words (of repentance) and He accepted his repentance. Surely, He is the Relenting and Most Merciful. (Al-Quran)

52. Quran explains that indiscretion was committed by both Adam and Eve who fell a prey to the designs of the misguiding satan. It is wrong therefore to accuse Eve of misleading Adam.

53. This means that Satan and man are enemies of each other.

54. When Adam realized that he has committed a blunder, he did not find adequate words to express his sense of repentance. Allah took pity on him and caused Him to know suitable words for expressing repentance and for seeking Allah’s pardon. Satan did not regret his disobedience and remained obstinate but Adam was sorry for his error. When a slave commits some fault and feels sorry and repents for it and turns to Allah for pardon, then Allah forgives him and accepts his repentance and bestows his mercy upon him.

55. Sending down on earth was not by way of punishment as Allah had forgiven Adam and accepted his repentance. This refutes the belief that Man is born in sin. Since Man was created Khalifa on this earth, Adam was sent down on earth to fulfil this purpose.

56. Adam’s error discloses the weakness of human nature and thus proves that Man is in need of Allah’s guidance.

Allah has made prophethood a medium for this guidance. He does not send his guidance to every man directly but He selects prophets for this purpose and reveals His guidance to them, who communicate it to the general mankind.

Allah wants to test men by sending them in this world. He wants to see who accepts His guidance and uses powers given by Him according to His pleasure and who rejects it and acts according to his own sweet will and thus acts as a false god.

57. That is neither grief from the past nor danger from the future. This refers to paradise where there will be no grief and no danger from anything.

58. The word “Aayaat” is used, which means Signs or Symbols. This refers to signs and symbols of Allah’s Unity and Lordship, His Mightiness and Wisdom, which are manifest in the soul of man. Besides, this word is also used for the miracles performed by the prophets, as also for the verses of the holy Quran which are in themselves so convincing that they are a proof of their Own divine origin.