Al-Ḥākim relates in his al-Mustadrak (1), through the chain of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr from Ibn ʿAbbās, regarding the verse, “Then Adam received from his Lord certain words, and He accepted his repentance” (Qur’an 2:37). He said:
Adam declared, “My Lord! Did You not create me with Your own hand?”
He was told, “Yes.”
“And did You not breathe into me of Your Spirit?”
He was told, “Yes.”
“And when I sneezed, did You not say, ‘May Allah have mercy on you,’ and did Your mercy not outstrip Your wrath?”
He was told, “Yes.”
“And did You not decree that I would commit this deed?”
He was told, “Yes.”
He then said, “So if I repent, will You restore me to Paradise?”
He was told, “Yes.”
Al-Ḥākim then commented, “Its chain is sound, and the two Shaykhs did not include it.”
Al-Ḥākim, al-Bayhaqī, and Ibn ʿAsākir likewise transmitted—through ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from his grandfather, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“When Adam committed the sin he said, ‘My Lord, I ask You—by the right of Muḥammad—that You forgive me.’
Allah said, ‘How do you know about Muḥammad when I have not yet created him?’
He replied, ‘My Lord, when You created me with Your hand and breathed into me of Your Spirit, I raised my head and saw written on the pillars of the Throne: There is no god but Allah; Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah. I knew then that You would not join to Your name except the most beloved of creation to You.’
Allah said, ‘You have spoken the truth, O Adam! He is indeed the most beloved of creation to Me. Because you asked Me by his right, I have forgiven you; and were it not for Muḥammad, I would not have created you.’” (2)
Al-Bayhaqī remarked, “ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd ibn Aslam is alone in narrating it through this route, and he is weak—Allah knows best.”
This verse is similar to His words: “But Adam disobeyed his Lord and so went astray. Thereafter his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance, and guided him” (Qur’an 20:121–122).
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The Account of Adam’s Debate with Moses—peace be upon them both
Al-Bukhārī records (3): Qutaybah told us; Ayyūb ibn al-Najjār told us, from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, from Abū Salamah, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Prophet ﷺ declared:
“Moses debated with Adam (peace be upon him). He said to him, ‘You are the one who, because of your sin, expelled people from Paradise and brought misery upon them.’
Adam replied, ‘O Moses! Allah chose you with His messages and with His speech; yet do you blame me for a matter Allah had written against me—indeed decreed for me—before He created me?’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ concluded, ‘Thus Adam won the argument against Moses.’”