and the negative particle is superfluous, as in His saying, “It is forbidden for a town that We have destroyed that they should return.” ⦗128/b⦘ (al-Anbiya, 95).
Iblis replied, “I am better than him, for You created me from fire and created him from clay.” Fire, he claimed, is better and more luminous than clay.
Ibn Abbas said: “Iblis was the first to employ analogy, and he erred in his analogy. Whoever bases religion on something from his own opinion through analogy, Allah will join him with Iblis.”
Ibn Sirin said: “The sun was worshipped only through analogy.”
Muhammad ibn Jarir said: “The vile one presumed that fire was better than clay, not knowing that merit belongs to whomever Allah grants merit. Allah has favoured clay over fire in several respects. Among them is that the nature of clay is marked by gravity, dignity, forbearance, and patience. These led Adam—after the felicity decreed for him—to repentance, humility, and earnest supplication; and so he inherited divine election, repentance, and guidance.
“The nature of fire, on the other hand, is marked by lightness, rashness, sharpness, and haughtiness. These led Iblis—after the wretchedness decreed for him—to arrogance and persistence in sin; and so he inherited the curse and wretchedness. Clay is also a means by which things are brought together, whereas fire is a means by which they are dispersed. Moreover, soil is a means of life, for trees and plants live by it, while fire is a means of destruction.”
Allah said, “Then descend from it, for it is not fitting for you to be arrogant there. So get out! You are truly among the disgraced.” He said, “Delay me until the Day they are resurrected.” Allah said, “You are among those delayed.” He said, “Because You caused me to stray, I will surely lie in ambush for them on Your straight path. Then I will come upon them from before them, from behind them, from their right, and from their left, and You will find most of them ungrateful.”
His saying, “Then descend from it,” means: from Paradise. It is also said: from heaven down to the earth. He had dominion over the earth, so Allah expelled him from it to the islands of the sea; his throne is in the green sea. Thus, he enters the earth only in fear, in the guise of a thief, like an old man clothed in tattered garments, frightening people there until he leaves it.
His saying, “For it is not fitting for you to be arrogant,” means: by disobeying the command. “There” means: in Paradise. Thus, it is not befitting for an arrogant person who disobeys Allah’s command to dwell in Paradise or in heaven. “So get out! You are among the disgraced,” that is, among the humiliated. Disgrace means abasement and humiliation.
Iblis then said, “Delay me”: postpone me and grant me respite; do not cause me to die “until the Day they are resurrected” from their graves. This is the final blast, when the Hour is established. The vile one wished not to taste death.