Surah 20. Taha

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Verses [Section]: 1-24[1], 25-54 [2], 55-76 [3], 77-89 [4], 90-104 [5], 105-115 [6], 116-128 [7], 129-135 [8]

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Quran Text of Verse 116-128وَ اِذْAnd whenقُلْنَاWe saidلِلْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةِto the AngelsاسْجُدُوْاProstrateلِاٰدَمَto Adamفَسَجَدُوْۤاthen they prostratedاِلَّاۤexceptاِبْلِیْسَ ؕIblisاَبٰی he refused فَقُلْنَاThen We saidیٰۤاٰدَمُO Adam!اِنَّIndeedهٰذَاthisعَدُوٌّ(is) an enemyلَّكَto youوَ لِزَوْجِكَand to your wifeفَلَاSo notیُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا(let) him drive you bothمِنَfromالْجَنَّةِParadiseفَتَشْقٰی so (that) you would suffer اِنَّIndeedلَكَfor youاَلَّاthat notتَجُوْعَyou will be hungryفِیْهَاthereinوَ لَاand notتَعْرٰیۙyou will be unclothed وَ اَنَّكَAnd that youلَاnotتَظْمَؤُاwill suffer from thirstفِیْهَاthereinوَ لَاand notتَضْحٰی exposed to the sun's heat فَوَسْوَسَThen whisperedاِلَیْهِto himالشَّیْطٰنُShaitaanقَالَhe saidیٰۤاٰدَمُO Adam!هَلْShallاَدُلُّكَI direct youعَلٰیtoشَجَرَةِ(the) treeالْخُلْدِ(of) the Eternityوَ مُلْكٍand a kingdomلَّاnotیَبْلٰی (that will) deteriorate فَاَكَلَاThen they both ateمِنْهَاfrom itفَبَدَتْso became apparentلَهُمَاto themسَوْاٰتُهُمَاtheir shameوَ طَفِقَاand they beganیَخْصِفٰنِ(to) fastenعَلَیْهِمَاon themselvesمِنْfromوَّرَقِ(the) leavesالْجَنَّةِ ؗ(of) Paradiseوَ عَصٰۤیAnd Adam disobeyedاٰدَمُAnd Adam disobeyedرَبَّهٗhis Lordفَغَوٰی۪ۖand erred ثُمَّThenاجْتَبٰهُchose himرَبُّهٗhis Lordفَتَابَand turnedعَلَیْهِto himوَ هَدٰی and guided (him) قَالَHe saidاهْبِطَاGo downمِنْهَاfrom itجَمِیْعًۢاallبَعْضُكُمْsome of youلِبَعْضٍto othersعَدُوٌّ ۚ(as) enemyفَاِمَّاThen ifیَاْتِیَنَّكُمْcomes to youمِّنِّیْfrom Meهُدًی ۙ۬guidanceفَمَنِthen whoeverاتَّبَعَfollowsهُدَایَMy guidanceفَلَاthen notیَضِلُّhe will go astrayوَ لَاand notیَشْقٰی suffer وَ مَنْAnd whoeverاَعْرَضَturns awayعَنْfromذِكْرِیْMy remembranceفَاِنَّthen indeedلَهٗfor himمَعِیْشَةً(is) a lifeضَنْكًاstraitenedوَّ نَحْشُرُهٗand We will gather himیَوْمَ(on the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) the Resurrectionاَعْمٰی blind قَالَHe will sayرَبِّMy Lord!لِمَWhyحَشَرْتَنِیْۤYou raised meاَعْمٰیblindوَ قَدْwhile [verily]كُنْتُI hadبَصِیْرًا sight 20. Taha Page 321قَالَHe will sayكَذٰلِكَThusاَتَتْكَcame to youاٰیٰتُنَاOur Signsفَنَسِیْتَهَا ۚbut you forgot themوَ كَذٰلِكَand thusالْیَوْمَtodayتُنْسٰی you will be forgotten وَ كَذٰلِكَAnd thusنَجْزِیْWe recompenseمَنْ(he) whoاَسْرَفَtransgressesوَ لَمْand notیُؤْمِنْۢbelievesبِاٰیٰتِin (the) Signsرَبِّهٖ ؕ(of) his Lordوَ لَعَذَابُAnd surely (the) punishmentالْاٰخِرَةِ(of) the Hereafterاَشَدُّ(is) more severeوَ اَبْقٰی and more lasting اَفَلَمْThen has notیَهْدِit guidedلَهُمْ[for] themكَمْhow manyاَهْلَكْنَاWe (have) destroyedقَبْلَهُمْbefore themمِّنَofالْقُرُوْنِthe generationsیَمْشُوْنَ(as) they walkفِیْinمَسٰكِنِهِمْ ؕtheir dwellingsاِنَّIndeedفِیْinذٰلِكَthatلَاٰیٰتٍsurely (are) Signsلِّاُولِیfor possessorsالنُّهٰی۠(of) intelligence

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Translation of Verse 116-128

(20:116) Recall when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam"; all prostrated themselves save Iblis. He refused.

(20:117) Then We said: "Adam!⁹⁵ He is an enemy to you and to your wife.⁹⁶ So let him not drive both of you out of Paradise⁹⁷ and plunge you into affliction,

(20:118) (for in Paradise) neither are you hungry nor naked,

(20:119) nor face thirst or scorching heat."⁹⁸

(20:120) But Satan seduced him,⁹⁹ saying: "Adam! Shall I direct you to a tree of eternal life and an abiding kingdom?"¹⁰⁰

(20:121) Then the two of them ate the fruit of that tree and their shameful parts became revealed to each other, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves from the Garden.¹⁰¹ Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord and strayed into error.¹⁰²

(20:122) Thereafter his Lord exalted him,¹⁰³ accepted his repentance, and bestowed guidance upon him,

(20:123) and said:¹⁰⁴ "Get down, both of you, (that is, man and Satan), and be out of it; each of you shall be an enemy to the other. Henceforth if there comes to you a guidance from Me, then whosoever follows My guidance shall neither go astray nor suffer misery.

(20:124) But whosoever turns away from this Admonition from Me shall have a straitened life;¹⁰⁵ We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection,"¹⁰⁶

(20:125) where-upon he will say: "Lord! Why have You raised me blind when I had sight in the world?"

(20:126) He will say: "Even so it is. Our Signs came to you and you ignored them. So shall you be ignored this Day."¹⁰⁷

(20:127) Thus do We requite him who transgresses and does not believe in the signs of your Lord¹⁰⁸ (during the life of the world); and surely the punishment of the Hereafter is even more terrible and more enduring.

(20:128) Did they¹⁰⁹ not find any guidance in the fact that We destroyed many nations in whose ruined dwelling-places they now walk about? Surely there are many Signs in them for people endowed with wisdom.¹¹⁰

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Commentary

95. Here the command that was given Adam, viz. that he should not eat the fruit of a certain tree, has not been stated clearly. It is, however, mentioned at’ several other places in the Qur’an. Since the import of this verse is to identify how man is misled by his enemy despite God’s forewarning and how this weakness compels him to. act against his own interests, God summarily mentions only the warning given to Adam, and the command itself.

96. Satan’s enmity was manifest at the very outset. Adam and Eve had themselves seen how Satan had refused to prostrate himself before them: ‘I am better than he. You created me from fire and him you created from clay’ (al-A‘raf 7: 12 and Sad 38: 76). On another occasion ‘he said: ‘Shall I prostrate myself before him whom you created of clay?’ He then continued: ‘Look! This is he whom you have honored above me! If You will grant me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I shall uproot the whole of his progeny barring only a few’ (Bani Isra’il 17: 61-2).

Satan made no attempt to conceal his jealousy of man. In fact, he expressed it quite openly and asked God for a respite to prove, by misguiding man, that he was not worthy of the honor of God’s vicegerency that had been bestowed on him. Satan’s challenge in this respect is referred to in al-A ‘raf, al-Hijr, Bani Isra’ il 17: 62-6 and Sad 38: 82-3. Thus, when God told Adam that Satan was his enemy it was not something beyond verification for Adam because both he and Eve had seen Satan act as would an enemy and both had heard him express his jealousy.

97. Thus, both Adam and Eve are clearly told that if they fall under Satan’s sway, they will not be able to abide in Paradise and will be deprived of the bounties to be enjoyed there.

98. This spells out the plight which would follow Adam after his expulsion from Paradise. Here, there is no mention of the highest and perfect bounties to be enjoyed in Paradise; instead, only four important bounties are stated, namely the provision of food, water, clothing and shelter. These basic amenities are available in Paradise without any effort. But Adam and Eve are told that as a result of their violation of God’s command under the influence of Satan they will be deprived of even these basic amenities, let alone those other greater bounties to be had in Paradise. They will only be able to obtain these basic necessities by hard toil and sweat. Bread will not come to them unless they work hard for it. Similarly, the demands of earning a livelihood will consume their time and energy, leaving little time for the pursuit of life’s higher goals.

99. The Qur’an says here that it was Adam, rather than Eve, who was first misled by Satan. Although it has been said in al-A ‘raf (7: 20) that both of them were misled, the focus of Satan’s effort was nonetheless to mislead Adam. By contrast the Biblical version lays the blame squarely at Eve’s door. (See Genesis, Chapter 3.)

100. Further details about Satan urging Adam and Eve to disobey God can be found in al-A ‘raf (7: 20): ‘He said: ‘‘Your Lord has forbidden you to approach this tree only to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals.”

101. In other words, as Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were deprived of the comforts and amenities automatically available to them in Paradise under the special scheme of things obtaining there. They were first deprived of clothing. Later, the arrangement to provide food, water and shelter without any effort on their part was discontinued. For it would only be when they would feel hungry, that they would realize the bounty of satiety of which they had been deprived, and so on and so forth. What affected them first, however, was their nudity since they were stripped forthwith of their garments of Paradise.

102. One should understand at this point-the exact weakness betrayed by Adam. He recognized God as his Creator and Lord and believed in Him with all his heart. He was also vividly conscious of the comforts available to him in — Paradise. He also knew, on the basis of first-hand experience, Satan’s jealousy and enmity towards him. Additionally, God had also forewarned Adam that Satan would try his utmost to mislead him, and if he fell prey to his machinations, he should be prepared to face the consequences of the same. Satan had also openly said, in Adam’s very presence, that he would concentrate all his efforts towards misleading man and bringing about his ruination. Despite all this, when Satan appeared before Adam as a sincere counsellor, as a true well-wisher, he was able to seduce Adam with the promise of eternal life. Adam proved altogether unequal to Satan and could not withstand his temptations and so conveniently fell into the trap which had been laid for him. Adam still had his faith in God, and he did not question at all that he was under an obligation to obey God’s command. It was merely a transient urge, which had been aroused by Satan’s prompting, that caused him to lose his self-control. As a result, he fell from his elevated position to commit God’s disobedience. It is Adam’s ‘forgetfulness’ and ‘lack of firm resolve’ to which reference is made at the beginning of Adam’s story as narrated here (see verse 115). This weakness has existed from man’s very beginning and has remained with him throughout the passage of time.

103. Unlike Satan, however, Adam was not banished from a state of grace. God did not let him remain in the state into which he had fallen as a result of his disobedience; instead, He pulled him out of the morass into which he had become enmeshed, pardoned him and selected him for a special service to His cause.

One can see then the distinction that a master must make in response to two kinds of attitudes even when each is erroneous. One demands the treatment that - the master metes out to a servant who has consciously rebelled and who has done so out of vanity and arrogance: this treatment is deserved by Satan and all those who willfully defy God. The second kind of treatment is that which should be meted out to a servant who, while being fully loyal, lapses into disobedience as a result of negligence or lack of firm resolve, a servant who feels ashamed of himself as soon as he comes to realize what he has done. Both Adam and Satan were, therefore, treated differently. For Adam and Eve had confessed their sins and cried out: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us, and do not have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the losers’ (al-A ‘raf 7: 23).

104. Not only did God pardon them, He also showed Adam and Eve the right path for the future and instructed them on how they should follow that path.

105. This verse says that the unrighteous will have a wretched life in this world. This does not mean that all those who are unrighteous will necessarily face poverty. What is meant is that such people will be unable to find peace and contentment. Someone may be a millionaire, and yet their life will be plagued by discontent and restlessness. Likewise, even the ruler of a vast empire may be intensely unhappy and suffer mental agonies. For it is quite possible that the success of such men has been brought about by blatantly evil means with the net result that they suffer great mental pain. Even when they reproach their consciences this only adds to their suffering. Such men will always remain in conflict with their consciences and everything around them will deprive them of true peace and happiness.

106. This marks the conclusion of Adam’s story. If one reads this story carefully, as narrated here and elsewhere in the Qur’an, it leads to the belief that true vicegerency of the earth was initially conferred upon Adam in Paradise. Paradise may have been located in the heavens or it may have been here on this earth. Being God’s vicegerent, Adam enjoyed an abundance of provisions including food, drink, clothing, and shelter, with angels at his beck and call to do his bidding. During this period Adam did not have to worry about his day-to-day personal needs; instead his energy was conserved for the higher requirements of his vicegerency.

Before granting Paradise to man for his permanent settlement, it was necessary for God to test Adam’s mettle so as to bring his strengths and weaknesses into the open. Accordingly, a test was arranged, the conclusion to which demonstrated that Adam was susceptible to temptations, was unable to firmly adhere to his commitments, and was liable to forgetfulness and negligence. Thereafter, Adam and his children were entrusted with provisional or probationary, rather than permanent vicegerency. This probation will end on the Last Day. However, God also decided to deprive Adam of the gratuitous provisions for his livelihood during this period of probation; a privilege he had enjoyed earlier in Paradise. So, up until the Next Life, man is required to strive to make his living. He will, however, continue to enjoy, as before, control over the earth and earthly creatures. The point of all this was to test whether man, who had been invested with free will, obeyed God or not, and to see, whenever he suffered a lapse resulting from negligence, whether or not he would mend his ways and return to the right path after being reminded and warned and instructed. The final decision about man, whether he has been obedient to God or disobedient, will be made later.

So far as man’s tenure of this worldly life is concerned — and this is the period which covers his probationary vicegerency — God maintains a full and detailed record of it. Those who are declared successful in the light of this record, will be endowed with permanent vicegerency on the Day of Judgement — in addition to receiving immortality and abiding dominion. (It may be recalled that Satan had lured man into error by promising him immortality.) It is at this stage that the whole of this earth will be turned into Paradise and will be given over to those righteous servants of God who were obedient to Him during the term of their probationary vicegerency, and who, whenever they lapsed into sin, soon reverted to obedience.

Those who look upon Paradise as an infinite opportunity to eat, and laze in indolence are cherishing a false notion. Instead there will be ample opportunity in Paradise for man to make constant progress, without suffering any regression. In Paradise he will occupy himself with God’s vicegerency, and will do so with the full assurance that there will be no possibility for him to suffer any failure. It is impossible, however, to imagine what kind of progress man will make and the tasks he will perform. To imagine these things is as difficult as it would be-for a child to imagine, during his childhood, the happiness and bliss of matrimonial life. The Qur’an, therefore, refers only to those pleasures of Paradise which resemble the pleasures available to man in the present world.

It will not be altogether irrelevant at this point to cast a glance at the Biblical version of the story of Adam and Eve:

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put-the man whom he had formed. [He planted] the tree of life also in the midst of the’ garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall die.

And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, ‘‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’’?’ And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’’ But the serpent said to the woman: ‘You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave ‘some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’ To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in child bearing, in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.’ And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘*You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’ — therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden (Genesis 2: 7~9, 15~17, 25 and 3: 1-23).

Those who proclaim loud and long that the Qur’anic stories are borrowed from the Bible would be well advised to compare the Biblical version given above with the Qur’anic account.

107. Transgressors will pass through different states during the interregnum, beginning with their new life commencing on the Day of Resurrection up until their entry into Hell. These states are also described at several different places in the Qur’4n. For example, the transgressors are told: “You were heedless of this; now have We removed your veil and sharp is your sight on this Day’ (Qaf 50: 22). Elsewhere the Qur’an refers to another state through which they will pass: ‘... He is merely granting them respite until a Day when their eyes shall continue to stare in horror, when they shall keep pressing ahead in haste, their heads lifted up, their gaze directed forward, unable to look away from what they behold, their hearts utterly void’ Ibrahim — 14: 42-3). Yet another state is described as follows: ‘On the Day of Resurrection We shall produce for him his scroll, in the shape of a wide open book, [saying:] ‘‘Read your scroll; this Day you are sufficient to take account of yourself’ ’ (Bani Isra’il 17: 13~14).

The verse under study also sketches a similar state. It appears that God will enable the transgressors to foresee the terrible scenes of the Last Day and the dire consequences of their misdeeds. They will, however, only be able to see this much but no more. In other respects, they will be like the blind, unable to find their way: they will not enjoy the assistance of anyone.to help them walk nor will they even possess a stick to help them feel their way. Instead, they will stumble at every step, not knowing in which direction to proceed, absolutely ignorant of what lies ahead of or behind them. This condition is summed up in the Qur’an as follows: ‘Allah will say: ‘‘... Our signs came to you and you ignored them. So you shall be ignored this Day’’ (Ta Ha 20: 126). — The underlying idea is that no attention will be paid to the unbelievers; their state of suffering and perplexity will be altogether ignored. No one will come forward to lend them a supporting hand nor will there be anyone to fulfil their needs for them, or to look after them.

108. This is a reference to the ‘wretched life’ which is the lot, in this world, of all those who reject God’s Book — ‘the Remembrance’ — and its teachings. This will be in addition to the miserable fate that lies in store for them in the Next Life. —

109. This refers to the Makkans to whom the Qur’anic message was then addressed.

110. These signs are found in man’s history, in archaeological finds, in the totality of man’s experience.