reason—he derived this very maxim from here and made it a fundamental principle for rejecting the texts of revelation that he claims are contradicted by reason, just as his leader alleged that rational evidence conflicted with the explicit command to prostrate and therefore had to be preferred to it (1). This specious notion occurred to the enemy of Allah because of the arrogance that kept him from yielding in pure submission to the revealed text; and in the same way (2) you will find that everyone who disputes the texts of revelation on false grounds is driven only by an arrogance in his breast that he will never attain. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Indeed, those who dispute concerning the signs of Allah without any authority that has come to them—there is nothing within their breasts but an arrogance they will never attain. So seek refuge in Allah; surely He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” (Q 40:56)

Likewise, Adam’s departure from Paradise came about solely because of taʾwīl; otherwise, he, peace be upon him, never meant by his eating to disobey the Lord, to brazenly violate His prohibition, or to wrong himself so as to deserve the hardship of being expelled from the Garden. The father of mankind most certainly intended none of that.

People have differed over the nature of his taʾwīl. One group said that he construed the unrestricted prohibition as referring only to that specific tree. The enemy of Allah deluded him by claiming that the species of that tree was the Tree of Everlasting Life and enticed him (3) with the hope that, if he ate from it, he would never leave Paradise.

Yet what they have said is plainly open to objection, for Allah, exalted is He, informs us that Iblīs said to them: “Your Lord forbade you this tree only lest you become angels or lest you become immortals.” (Q 7:19). Thus the enemy of Allah pointed out to them the very tree from which they had been forbidden—either that exact tree or its species—and explicitly told them that it was the forbidden one. And had Adam held that