ʿAbd al-Razzāq reports—through Hishām ibn Ḥassān, from Suwār—the narration of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: when Adam was cast down, his feet reached the earth while his head was still in the sky, whereupon Allah diminished him to a height of sixty cubits. A similar account is related from Ibn ʿAbbās.
Yet this requires scrutiny in light of the sound ḥadīth agreed upon by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, transmitted from Abū Hurayrah, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Allah created Adam sixty cubits tall, and mankind has been decreasing in stature ever since.” The wording indicates that Adam was created at exactly sixty cubits and no more, and that his descendants have continued to grow smaller up to the present day.
Ibn Jarīr also recorded from Ibn ʿAbbās that Allah said, “O Adam, I have a sanctuary directly opposite My Throne. Go and build Me a House there, then circumambulate it just as My angels circle around My Throne.” Allah sent an angel who showed him the site and taught him the rites, and it is said that every place Adam set his foot later became a town.
It is likewise related from Ibn ʿAbbās that the first food Adam ate on earth was when Gabriel brought him seven kernels of wheat. Adam asked, “What is this?” Gabriel replied, “It is from the tree you were forbidden—yet you ate from it.” Adam asked, “What am I to do with it?” Gabriel said, “Sow it in the ground.” Adam did so; each kernel weighed more than one hundred thousand (of today’s grains). It sprouted, he harvested it, threshed it, winnowed it, milled it, kneaded it, and baked it—only after great effort, toil, and hardship did he eat. About this Allah says: “So let him not expel you both from the Garden, lest you suffer” (Ṭā-Hā 20:117).
Their first garments were made of sheep’s wool: they sheared it, spun it, then Adam wove a cloak for himself and, for Eve, a tunic and a head-covering.
The scholars disagreed whether any of their children were born in Paradise. One opinion holds that no offspring came until they were on earth; another states that some children were born there, and that Cain and his sister were among them. Allah knows best.
It is also reported that with each pregnancy Eve bore a male and a female. Adam was instructed to marry each son to the sister of his brother born in the same birth, while his own twin sister was not lawful for him.
The Story of Adam’s Two Sons: Cain and Abel
Allah the Exalted says:
“Recite to them, in truth, the story of the two sons of Adam: each offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them but not from the other. The latter said, ‘I will surely kill you.’ The former replied, ‘Allah accepts only from the God-fearing. Even if you stretch out your hand to kill me, I will not stretch out my hand to kill you; indeed, I fear Allah…’” (al-Māʾidah 5:27–28)