—with matters that confound the mind, not with what reason itself judges to be impossible.

And as for Adam—peace be upon him—although he did eat from the tree, Allah accepted his repentance, chose him, and guided him. The Exalted said:

“And Adam disobeyed his Lord and so went astray. Then his Lord chose him, turned to him in mercy, and guided him.” ⦗Ṭā Hā 20:121-122⦘

He also said:

“Then Adam received from his Lord words, and He accepted his repentance; indeed, He alone is the Ever-Relenting, the Merciful.” ⦗al-Baqarah 2:37⦘

Nothing in the scriptures of the People of the Book negates Adam’s repentance. At most, one of them may say, “We have no knowledge that he repented,” or “Our books do not mention his repentance.” Yet lack of knowledge about a thing is not knowledge of its non-existence, and the absence of a statement in one of Allah’s books does not prove that it is absent from another. The Torah contains material not found in the Gospel; the Torah and Gospel share matters absent from the Psalms; and the Gospel and Psalms contain things not recorded in the Torah. Likewise, the other prophetic books include revelations that do not appear in these three. If the Quran were inferior to—or merely on par with—the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the other scriptures, it would still be possible for it to contain knowledge lacking in them. How much more so when the Quran is superior, more exalted, and encompasses learning far greater than what is found in the Torah and the Gospel! Allah, Most High, has proclaimed its superiority over them in many passages, such as His words:

“Allah has sent down the finest discourse: a Book, consistent and oft-repeated, at which the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble …” ⦗al-Zumar 39:23⦘