Iblis was in their midst, and the command to prostrate had been addressed to him along with the angels. Yet he did not share their essence; he was one of the jinn, fashioned from nār al-samūm (a smokeless, scorching fire). Concealing disbelief in Allah and envy toward this human being whom Allah had so signally honored, his arrogance and unbelief drove him to refuse to bow to Adam—an act of outright defiance and self-exaltation.

Refusal alone did not satisfy him; he went further and openly objected to his Lord, impugning His wisdom. He declared, “I am better than he; You created me from fire, whereas You created him from clay” (Q 7:12). Allah said to him, “O Iblis, what prevented you from prostrating before that which I created with My own Hands? Were you too proud, or are you of those exalted?” (Q 38:75). Because of this unbelief, arrogance, obstinacy, and intense aversion, he became the sole object of expulsion and curse. Allah therefore said, “Then descend from it! You have no right to act proudly therein. Get out—for you are indeed among the abased” (Q 7:13).

The vile one still would not humble himself before his Lord, nor did he repent. Instead he brazenly declared enmity, resolutely setting himself against Adam and his descendants. Realizing that eternal misery was now his lot, he resolved to summon Adam’s offspring—by his word, his deeds, and his forces—so that they might join his party, destined for the abode of ruin. He said, “My Lord, grant me respite until the Day they are resurrected” (Q 15:36), in order to devote himself entirely to prosecuting his enmity against Adam and his progeny.

Allah’s wisdom had decreed that the human being be composed of divergent temperaments and of traits both noble and base, and that these qualities be distinguished and refined through trials—the greatest of which is enabling this enemy to invite them to every evil. So He answered him: “You are indeed among those granted respite, until the Day of the appointed time” (Q 15:37–38).