وَ كَذٰلِكَ And thus اَنْزَلْنٰهُ We have sent it down قُرْاٰنًا (the) Quran عَرَبِیًّا (in) Arabic وَّ صَرَّفْنَا and We have explained فِیْهِ in it مِنَ of الْوَعِیْدِ the warnings لَعَلَّهُمْ that they may یَتَّقُوْنَ fear اَوْ or یُحْدِثُ it may cause لَهُمْ [for] them ذِكْرًا remembrance 20. Taha Page 320 فَتَعٰلَی So high (above all) اللّٰهُ (is) Allah الْمَلِكُ the King الْحَقُّ ۚ the True وَ لَا And (do) not تَعْجَلْ hasten بِالْقُرْاٰنِ with the Quran مِنْ before قَبْلِ before اَنْ [that] یُّقْضٰۤی is completed اِلَیْكَ to you وَحْیُهٗ ؗ its revelation وَ قُلْ and say رَّبِّ My Lord زِدْنِیْ Increase me عِلْمًا (in) knowledge وَ لَقَدْ And verily عَهِدْنَاۤ We made a covenant اِلٰۤی with اٰدَمَ Adam مِنْ before قَبْلُ before فَنَسِیَ but he forgot وَ لَمْ and not نَجِدْ We found لَهٗ in him عَزْمًا۠ determination
(20:113) (O Muhammad), thus have We revealed this as an Arabic Qur'an88 and have expounded in it warning in diverse ways so that they may avoid evil or become heedful.89
(20:114) Exalted is Allah, the True King!90 Hasten not with reciting the Qur'an before its revelation to you is finished, and pray: "Lord! Increase me in knowledge."91
(20:115) Most certainly We92 had given Adam a command before,93 but he forgot. We found him lacking in firmness of resolution.94
88. That is, the Qur’an abounds in good teachings and sound counsels What is said here refers to the whole of the Qur’an rather than merely to these particular verses. This observation should be especially considered: conjunction with the statement made at the beginning of the surah (see verse 1) and those verses about the Prophet Moses at the conclusion of his story verses 98-9). The purpose of this observation is to underscore the Superb qualities of the Qur’an which was sent down by God as His special favor, qualities because of which it has been characterized, as Tadhkirah (Reminder and Dhikr (Remembrance).
89. They are asked to wake up from their apathy and to remember the lesson they had thus far forgotten. They are also asked to reflect on how they have been directed to erroneous paths, and the heavy price they will pay for pursuing them.
90. Such statements are usually made in the Qur’an while winding up a discourse, the purpose being to conclude with a celebration of God. The context and the style here indicate that the current discourse has come to an end and that a new one starts with verse 115: ‘Most certainly We had given Adam a command before. What seems most likely is that the two discourses were revealed on two separate occasions which, at God’s behest, were subsequently combined into one surah. The reason for bringing the two discourses together is that their subjects are very similar as we shall see later. (See n. 92 below — Ed.)
91. The previous subject ended with the statement: ‘Exalted is Allah, the True King’. Thereafter, the angel, before departing, apprises the Prophet (peace be on him) of something he had noted in the course of communicating the revealed message to the Prophet (peace be on him). Presumably the angel did not wish to disturb him while he was in the process of receiving this revelation. Once that task had been completed, the angel drew the Prophet’s attention to what he had noticed. Evidently, while receiving the revelation, the Prophet (peace be on him) had repeated the words of the message in order to fully retain them in his memory. This was bound to distract him from receiving the message for his mental concentration would have been affected. It was necessary, therefore, that the Prophet (peace be on him) should be apprised of the right manner of receiving the revelation, and that he be directed not to try to memorize the revelation before the process of receiving it was complete.
This seems to indicate that this part of Surah Ta Ha belongs to the early period of revelation. For it is in the early period that the Prophet (peace be on him) was not accustomed to receiving the revelation, so that on more than one occasion he did what is mentioned here. Whenever this occurred, the Prophet’s attention was drawn to it. We find, for instance, that in al-Qiyamah the discourse is interrupted by the following parenthetical statement: ‘Move not your tongue concerning the Qur’an to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and to promulgate it. So when We have promulgated it, follow its recital as promulgated. Then it is for Us to explain it’ (al-Qiyamah 75: 16-19).
Similarly, in another surah the Prophet (peace be on him) is assured that God will enable him to remember it. ‘We shall cause you to recite and then you shall hot forget’ (al-A ‘la 87: 6).
As the Prophet (peace be on him) became adept at receiving the revelation, such occurrences ceased. This explains why we encounter no such remarks in the later surahs.
92. As we noted earlier, this marks the beginning of a fresh discourse, one which was revealed some time after the previous discourse. In view of the closeness of the subject matter of the two discourses, they were put together in ‘one surah. Several subjects, however, seem common to both discourses:
(1) That the Qur’an basically expounds the same teachings which had been given to mankind. at the very advent of its existence. The Qur’an is essentially a renewal of the lesson which man had originally been taught, a renewal that had been promised by God. It was in order to renew this that God’s revealed guidance was communicated to human beings on many occasions prior to the revelation of the Qur’an.
(2) Satan constantly causes man to forget this lesson. Man has thus shown, from the beginning, his propensity to be misled. His first lapse is evident from the lapse of Adam and Eve because of their heedlessness and forgetfulness. That, however, was not a solitary incident. Man’s entire history is replete with such lapses. Man, therefore, needs to be constantly reminded.
(3) That man’s true success and failure are contingent upon the attitude he adopts towards God’s revealed guidance was impressed upon him from the very beginning. Hence, the Qur’an emphasized that if man follows God’s guidance, he will remain secure from falling into error and suffering, but that if he acts otherwise he will suffer both in the present world and in the Next. What is being said today through the Qur’an is merely a reiteration of what man was told long ago.
(4) Man has often been misled by Satan, his eternal enemy. This was due to man’s propensity to forgetfulness or because of his weak resolve. Man may possibly be forgiven for this weakness provided he realizes his mistake, mends his behavior, gives up his defiance of God, and reverts to obeying Him. This kind of weakness is one thing, but it is quite different if man deliberately decides to transgress from God’s command, and so follow Satan’s dictates - something which men like Pharaoh and the Samiri did. There is no question of any forgiveness in such cases. Anyone who embarks upon that course is bound to meet the same end as that which overtook Pharaoh and the Samiri.
93. Although the story of Adam (peace be on him) was narrated earlier in al-Baqarah, al-A‘raf, al-Hijr, Bani Isra’il and al-Kahf, it is resumed once again in this surah. This, in fact, is the seventh occasion that Adam’s story is narrated in the Qur’an. On each occasion, the narrative has a different context, accordingly, the details of each story have been set out in a different fashion.
We find in certain instances that details incidental to the story but which are directly related to the theme of the surah are described in one place but omitted at another. Likewise, the style varies from place to place. For a full understanding of the story and its meaning, one should recall the entire narrative as documented in different places throughout the Qur’an. We have, however, attempted to highlight, wherever the story is narrated, the underlying meaning and purpose of each fragment of the same.
94. Adam did not disobey God out of pride and deliberate rebelliousness. His fault rather lay in not paying sufficient attention to God’s directive, in being forgetful and weak in his resolve. His disobedience did not stem from a conscious contention on his part that he had the right to act as he pleased, that God had no business telling him what to do and what not to do. What lay at the heart of Adam’s lapse was that he did not try hard enough to retain the command he was required to follow; in essence, he forgot what he had been told. Later, when Satan attempted to mislead him, his resolve to follow God’s command proved to be weak — he did not remember the warning given to him in advance, nor did he remember the admonition which we shall refer to shortly. As a result, he was unable to firmly face inducements.
That ‘Adam lacked firm resolution’ is interpreted by some scholars to mean that Adam did not have the resolve to obey God. In other words, they suggest that the Qur’anic statement underscores their belief that Adam’s lapse was not a result of any resolve to disobey God, but rather resulted from his negligence.
This seems a rather far-fetched explanation. For had this been the purpose, the word simply has read whereas the Qur’an simply — says. The words employed make it quite clear that what is being referred to here that man lacks the firm resolution to carry out God’s command. Moreover, if the statement is placed in its current context, it is clear that it is not aimed at exonerating Adam from blame. In fact, the purpose of the statement is to identify that human weakness which manifested itself in the mistake Adam committed. It was because of this weakness that not only Adam but also his progeny constantly fell prey to Satan’s machinations.
Furthermore, if one studies this verse without any prior assumptions, one is bound to conclude that the Qur’an simply ‘states that Adam did not possess firm resolve or have any strong intention of obeying God’s command. Any alternative interpretation can only be considered by those who believe that it is improper to ascribe sin and disobedience to Adam, and hence some other explanation ought to be explored. The same opinion is expressed by al- Alusi in his commentary on the verse. It is evident that this interpretation does not instantly come to one’s mind, nor does it fit in with the context. (Ruh al-Ma‘ani, vol. 16, p. 243 - Ed.)