Shahr ibn Ḥawshab and others relate that Iblīs was one of the jinn whom the angels drove out; one of the angels captured him and brought him up to heaven. Ibn Jarīr recorded this.

They continue: When Allah willed to create Adam so that he and his progeny would dwell on earth, and He fashioned Adam’s body from its soil, Iblīs—who at that time was the leader of the jinn and the most devoted among them in worship, and whose name was ʿAzāzīl—began to circle around him. Seeing that Adam’s form was hollow, he realized that this was a creature who would not master himself. He said, “If I am given power over you, I will surely destroy you; and if you are given power over me, I will certainly disobey you.”

Then, when Allah breathed into Adam of His spirit—as will be detailed later—and commanded the angels to prostrate to him, Iblīs was seized by severe envy and refused to prostrate. He said, “I am better than he; You created me from fire and created him from clay.” Thus he defied the command, objected to the Lord—exalted is He—erred in his speech, and was cut off from his Lord’s mercy. The rank he had attained through worship was stripped from him. Though he had resembled the angels, he was not of their kind, for he was created from fire whereas they were created from light. His very nature betrayed him at the moment he needed it most, and he reverted to his fiery origin:

“So all the angels prostrated together, except Iblīs; he waxed proud and became one of the disbelievers.” (Ṣād 38:73–74)

And the Almighty said:

“When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam,’ they all prostrated except Iblīs. He was one of the jinn and he rebelled against his Lord’s command. Will you then take him and his offspring as allies instead of Me, while they are your enemy? What a wretched exchange for the wrongdoers!” (al-Kahf 18:50)

Thus Iblīs was cast down from the Highest Assembly and, by divine decree, forbidden ever to dwell there again. He descended to earth humiliated and despised, accursed and banished, threatened with the Fire—he and all who follow him of jinn and humankind. Yet despite this, he employs every possible stratagem to mislead the children of Adam, attacking them from every path and every ambush, as Allah says:

“He said, ‘Do You see this one whom You have honoured above me? If You grant me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize his descendants, all but a few.’
“[Allah] said, ‘Go. Whoever of them follows you—Hell will indeed be your recompense, an ample recompense. Incite, with your voice, whomever you can of them; rally against them your cavalry and your infantry; share with them in wealth and children, and make promises to them. But Satan promises them nothing but delusion.
“‘Indeed, you shall have no authority over My [true] servants; and sufficient is your Lord as Guardian.’” (al-Isrāʾ 17:62–65)

We shall recount the story in full when we discuss the creation of Adam, peace be upon him. What matters here is that the jinn were created from fire. In this they are like the children of Adam: they eat, drink, and reproduce, and among them are believers and unbelievers, as the Almighty has informed us.