Among the reports cited above, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr narrated through his chain of transmission from Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah:

“I heard Muhammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazī comment on His words:

‘As He originated you, so you will return. A group He guided, and a group deserved to be in error.’

“He said: ‘Whoever Allah originally created for misguidance, even if he performs the deeds of the rightly guided; whoever He originally created upon guidance, He brings to guidance, even if he performs the deeds of the misguided. He originally created Iblīs upon misguidance, and Iblīs performed deeds leading to blessedness alongside the angels. Then Allah returned him to the misguidance upon which He had originally created him.’ He said: ‘And he was among the disbelievers.’

“He originally created the sorcerers upon guidance, and they performed deeds of misguidance. Then He guided them to guidance and blessedness, and caused them to die as Muslims, adhering to it.”

Through the same chain of transmission, Muhammad ibn Kaʿb said concerning His words:

“And when your Lord took from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants”:

“The souls acknowledged Him with faith and recognition before their bodies were created.”

This report from Muhammad ibn Kaʿb makes clear that what He originally created them for, which is