اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
Praise is to God with all his praises, for all his blessings. . . Praise is to God, the owner of the property, the operator of the orbit, the bender of the wind, the glory of the morning, the religion of the beliefs, lord of the worlds; praise is to God for his dream after his knowledge and thank God for forgiveness after his power, and praise be to God for his long patience in his wrath and he is capable to do what he wills
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
And we bear witness that there is no god but God alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, he sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, that he might proclaim it over all religion, even if the polytheists hated it.
The fate of the devil
The holy Qur’an refers to the fate of Iblis, and says that Iblis asked for a respite for himself, until the day of judgment, as a reward for his thousands of years of worship; “قَالَ أَنْظِرْنِي إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ” “[Satan] said, ‘Respite me till the day they [the people] will be resurrected'” (A’raf: 14). He gave him the deadline until the day of judgment; “قَالَ إِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنْظَرِينَ” “Said He, ‘You are indeed among the reprieved.'” (A’raf: 15). However, in the surah of Sad and in the surah of Hajar, he says that this deadline has been given to the devil for a certain period of time: قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنْظَرِينَ؛ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْوَقْتِ” الْمَعْلُومِ” “Said He, ‘You are indeed among the reprieved; until the day of the known time.’” (Sad: 80 – 81; Hajar: 37 – 38). When is this known time? Some associate it with the day of the advent of the the Twelfth Imam (O souls sacrifice to him).
And Satan swears by the glory of God that he will always deceive people: “قَالَ فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ؛ إِلَّا عِبَادَكَ مِنْهُمُ الْمُخْلَصِينَ؛” ” He said, ‘By Your might, I will surely pervert them, except Your exclusive servants among them.’” (Sad: 82 – 83)
The very shocking and warning point is that man’s war with Satan is an unequal war. Satan dominates man and observes him while man is oblivious to the presence and temptation of Satan.
Adam’s dwelling in heaven and his deception by Satan
The holy Qur’an reports that Adam, father of human, settled in paradise with his wife, by the command of God:
وَيَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ فَكُلَا مِنْ حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ؛ فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ لِيُبْدِيَ لَهُمَا مَا وُورِيَ عَنْهُمَا مِنْ سَوْآتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَنْ تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ؛ وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ.
[Then He said to Adam,] ‘O Adam, dwell with your mate in paradise, and eat thereof whence you wish; but do not approach this tree, lest you should be among the wrongdoers.’ Then Satan tempted them, to expose to them what was hidden from them of their nakedness, and he said, ‘Your Lord has only forbidden you from this tree lest you should become angels, or lest you become immortal.’ And he swore to them, ‘I am indeed your well-wisher.’ (A’raf: 19 – 21)
Here the temptation of eternity and eternal life compels man to eat from that tree, and in fact he is deceived by Satan’s trick:
فَأَكَلَا مِنْهَا فَبَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْآتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِنْ وَرَقِ الْجَنَّةِ وَعَصَى آدَمُ رَبَّهُ فَغَوَى؛
So they both ate of it, and their nakedness became evident to them, and they began to stitch over themselves with the leaves of paradise. Adam disobeyed his Lord, and went amiss. (Taha: 121)
This story of Adam, the father of human, has become the basis of pure poetry in our literature. Some have linked it to the worthlessness of the world and its hobbies and beauties that deprive man of the true beloved one who is God. Hafez says:
For two wheat-grains, my father, Adam, sold the garden of Rizvan paradise. If, for a barley-grain, I sell it not, unworthy son I shall be.
Is Adam innocent or guilty?
The question that arises here is whether Adam committed a sin and a forbidden act by eating the forbidden fruit? Or does believing in his innocence go wrong with the story?
For offering further explanation, we must first say that orders and directives are divided into two categories: Authoritative command and verdict, guiding command and verdict
Authoritative commands and verdicts are prohibitions that God, as the creator of human, commands him to do them (they are obligatory) or to leave (they are forbidden). And the commands and verdicts of guidance are prohibitions by which God guides man, not orders to do or leave something.
Guiding verdicts do not make an action obligatory or forbidden, and disobeying God’s guidance is not considered a sin, and there is no punishment other than the natural result of the action.
In the story of Adam, the father of human, God’s had guided him, because the Qur’an says when narrating the story:
فَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ إِنَّ هَذَا عَدُوٌّ لَكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلَا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ فَتَشْقَى؛ إِنَّ لَكَ أَلَّا تَجُوعَ فِيهَا وَلَا تَعْرَى؛ وَأَنَّكَ لَا تَظْمَأُ فِيهَا وَلَا تَضْحَى؛
We said, ‘O Adam! This is indeed an enemy of yours and your mate’s. So do not let him expel you from paradise, or you will be miserable. You will neither be hungry in it nor naked. You will neither be thirsty in it, nor suffer from [the heat of] the sun.’ (Taha: 117 – 119)
Here, God reminds Adam about the result of his use from that tree, which will deprive him of living in paradise and taking advantage of its blessings, and the peace and comfort of that place. In fact, Adam was instructed not to use the plant and not to deprive himself of this heavenly blessing. Therefore, in surah of A’raf, he says:
فَدَلَّاهُمَا بِغُرُورٍ فَلَمَّا ذَاقَا الشَّجَرَةَ بَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْآتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِنْ وَرَقِ الْجَنَّةِ وَنَادَاهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَنْ تِلْكُمَا الشَّجَرَةِ وَأَقُلْ لَكُمَا إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ لَكُمَا عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ.
Thus he brought about their fall by deception. So when they tasted of the tree, their nakedness became exposed to them, and they began to stitch over themselves with the leaves of paradise. Their Lord called out to them, ‘Did I not forbid you from that tree, and tell you, ‘‘Satan is indeed your manifest enemy?’’ (A’raf: 22)
This way of expressing indicates that God’s prohibition on eating that plant was a guiding prohibition, and therefore this act was not forbidden for Adam and does not contradict the fact that Adam is one of the divine prophets.
The sign that shows the prohibition was a guidance kind is that Adam could get god’s forgiveness with his repentance; the consequences of his action (losing of blessings and peace and paradise) did not return to him, because they were the natural consequences of that eating and they were not punishment for that sin.