Surah Al-Baqarah Ayah 36 (2:36) — Meaning & Tafsir | Quran.GG

Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 36

2:36 · Meaning and tafsir

فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ ۖ وَقُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ ٣٦

But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:36 in Arabic with its translation: “But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We…”

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Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)

Adam was honored again

Allah honored Adam by commanding the angels to prostrate before him, so they all complied except for Iblis. Allah then allowed Adam to live and eat wherever and whatever he wished in Paradise. Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr bin Marduwyah reported Abu Dharr saying, "I said, `O Messenger of Allah ﷺ ! Was Adam a Prophet' He said,

«نَعَمْ نَبِيًّا رَسُولًا كَلَّمَهُ اللَّهُ قُبُلًا»

(Yes. He was a Prophet and a Messenger to whom Allah spoke directly), meaning

اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ

((O Adam!) Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise.)"

Hawwa' was created before Adam entered Paradise

The Ayah (2:35) indicates that Hawwa' was created before Adam entered Paradise, as Muhammad bin Ishaq stated. Ibn Ishaq said, "After Allah finished criticizing Iblis, and after teaching Adam the names of everything, He said,

Continue reading the tafsir of ayahs 35–36

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

A question arises here as to how Satan got into Paradise for seducing Adam and Hawwa (علیہما السلام) when he had already been expelled from there for refusing to prostrate himself. There are many possible ways in which he can have played his trick. Possibly he never met them, but planted the suggestion in their minds from afar - a thing which Satan can always do, and of which we have a specimen in the work of the hypnotists. It is equally possible that Satan, being one of the jinns whom Allah has given certain unusual powers denied to man, assumed the shape of a snake or of something else, and thus succeeded in entering Paradise. Perhaps it was because of this disguise that Adam (علیہ السلام) did not remember Allah's warning that Satan was his enemy. According to the Holy Qur'an, Satan assured them on oath that he was one of their well-wishers (7:21). It apparently suggests that he did actually meet them, and speak to them face o face.

The Holy Qur'an says that Satan فَأَخْرَ‌جَهُمَا :"brought them out" of the state in which they had been living. In actual fact, they were 'brought out' under a divine command, but since Satan served as a means and as an intermediary, the action has been attributed to him.17

17. The words of the Holy Qur'an do not in the least imply that Satan had any power whatsoever to act on his own. So, any Manichean dualism is totally out of the question.

In commanding Adam and Hawwa (علیہما السلام) to go down from

Paradise, Allah also said, بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ: 'Some of you (shall be the) enemies of some.' If Satan had not been turned out of the skies till then, he is included in this address, the implication being that the enmity between Satan on the one hand, and Adam and Hawwa' and their progeny on the other, would continue on the earth too. But if Satan, as some scholars maintain, had already been expelled, then the addressees are Adam and Hawwa' (علیہما السلام) and their progeny; the implication would now be that Adam and Hawwa (علیہما السلام) ' would have to undergo a double punishment, firstly that of being banished from Paradise, secondly that of seeing enmity arise among their children which must make life unpleasant for parents. (Baran al-Qur'an)

They were also told that the earth would be a temporary dwelling-place for them, and that they would have to leave it too, which also meant that they would not find real peace of mind there.

Tazkirul Quran

When God made Adam stand up in front of the angels including Iblis (Satan), and tested them by commanding them to bow down before Adam, He was giving the first man on earth a practical demonstration of the two paths that would be open to his progeny. Either they would follow the example of the angels and bow to God’s commandments, even if it meant bowing before someone they held inferior to themselves; or else they would be proud like Satan, and refuse to bow to others. This is the test that man faces throughout his entire life. Here on earth man is constantly faced with two alternative courses of action. He can either follow the course set by the angels and carry out God’s commandments by bowing before truth and justice in all that he does; or he can act as Satan did and, letting himself be controlled by arrogance and contempt, refuse to concede the right of others.

Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.