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II, 29-36.
THE CHAPTER OF THE HEIFER.
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Wilt Thou place therein one who will do evil therein and shed blood ? [30] we celebrate Thy praise and hallow Thee.' Said (the Lord), 'I know what ye know not.' And He taught Adam the names, all of them; then He propounded them to the angels and said, 'Declare to me the names of these, if ye are truthfull? They said, 'Glory be to Thee! no knowledge is ours but what Thou thyself hast taught us, verily, Thou art the knowing, the wise.' Said the Lord, 'O Adam declare to them their names;' and when he had declared to them their names He said,
Did I not say to you, I know the secrets of the heavens and of the earth, and I know what ye show and what ye were hiding?' And when we said to the angels, Adore Adam,' they adored him save only Iblis, who refused and was too proud and became one of the misbelievers. And we said, “O Adam dwell, thou and thy wife, in Paradise, and eat therefrom amply as you wish; but do not draw near this tree or ye will be of the transgressors. And Satan made them backslide therefrom and drove them out from what they were in, and we said, 'Go down, one of you the enemy of the other, and in the earth there is an abode and a provision for a time. [35] And Adam caught certain words from his Lord, and He turned towards him, for He is the compassionate one easily turned. We said, 'Go down therefrom altogether and haply there may come from me a guidance, and whoso follows my guidance, no fear is theirs, nor shall they grieve.
1 That is, truthful in their implied suggestion that man would be inferior to themselves in wisdom and obedience. The whole tradition here alluded to of the creation accords with the Talmudic legends, and was probably current among the Jewish Arab tribes.
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