Then He explained [that] (1) to them in full detail. He created Adam with His own Hand, thereby honoring him above all other creatures. He took a handful from every part of the earth—its plains and its mountains, its fertile soil and its barren dust—so that Adam’s descendants would inherit all these temperaments. Adam was first mere earth; water was then cast upon it and it became clay. When the water remained on the clay for a long while, it changed into fermented mud, dark and black; after shaping him, Allah dried him until he became like pottery that gives off a ringing sound.
Throughout these stages he was a body without a soul. When the construction of that body was complete, Allah breathed into him the spirit, and the lifeless form was transformed into a living being with bones, flesh, nerves, veins, and a soul—the very reality of the human being. Allah thus prepared him for every kind of knowledge and virtue.
He then perfected His favor upon Adam by teaching him the names of all things. Perfect knowledge calls for perfect character, and Allah desired to show the angels the excellence of this new creature. He displayed these objects before the angels and said, “Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful” (Qur’an 2:31)—that is, in respect of your earlier statement which implied that refraining from creating him would have been preferable, according to what you perceived at the time.
The angels were unable to name them and said, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise” (Qur’an 2:32). Allah said, “O Adam, inform them of their names,” and when Adam had informed them of their names (Qur’an 2:33) the angels witnessed, to a degree they had never imagined, the perfection and knowledge with which Adam had been endowed. By direct observation they came to appreciate the completeness of Allah’s wisdom, and they venerated Adam to the utmost.
Allah willed that this veneration, both inward and outward, be plainly manifested, so He said to the angels, “Prostrate yourselves before Adam” (Qur’an 2:34)—a gesture of respect, reverence, and honor toward him, and, for you, an act of worship of your Lord expressing obedience, love, and humility. Thereupon they all hastened together and prostrated.