Al-Zamakhsharī supposed that the words “Go down from it, all of you” address Adam and Eve alone, and that the plural is used because their descendants are included with them. He said: “The evidence is His words, Most High: ‘He said, “Go down from it, both of you, as enemies to one another”’ (70:123).” He continued: “This is also indicated by His words: ‘Whoever follows My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve. But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs will be the people of the Fire, remaining there forever.’ This is a judgment encompassing all humanity. The words ‘as enemies to one another’ refer to people’s mutual enmity and aggression, and their leading one another astray.”

The interpretation he chose is the weakest offered for this verse. The enmity Allah Most High mentions is specifically that between Adam and Iblīs and their descendants, as He, Most High, says:

“Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy.” (35:6)

He, glorified is He, has emphatically affirmed the enmity between Satan and man, mentioning it repeatedly throughout the Quran because of the pressing need to guard against this enemy. As for Adam and his wife, He tells us in His Book that He created her for him so that he might find tranquility in her, and placed affection and mercy between them «1». Thus, affection and mercy belong between a man and his wife, while enmity lies between Satan and man. Adam, his wife, and Iblīs have already been mentioned—three individuals. Why, then, should the pronoun refer to only some of those mentioned, rather than all of them, when this runs counter to the flow of the discourse and both the wording and the meaning call for including them all? Al-Zamakhsharī has therefore established nothing.

As for His words, Most High, in Surah Tā Hā:

“He said, ‘Go down from it, both of you, as enemies to one another.’” (20:123)

This addresses Adam and Eve, yet He has described them as enemies to one another. The pronoun in “Go down from it, both of you” may refer either to Adam and his wife or to Adam and Iblīs; in the latter case, the wife is not mentioned because she is included with Adam.