Ibn Jurayj said: “Say, ‘I have no power to benefit or harm myself,’” meaning guidance and misguidance. “Had I known the unseen”—that is, when I would die—“I would have acquired much good,” meaning righteous deeds, “and no harm would have touched me.”

Ibn Zayd said: “I would have avoided and guarded myself against whatever evil might occur.”

It has also been said that the meaning is: Had I known the unseen—that is, when the Hour would come—I would have informed you, so that you might believe, and no harm would have touched me because of your denial. It has also been said that “no harm touched me” begins a new statement; that is, madness did not touch me, for they used to accuse him of madness. “I am only a warner” for those who do not believe in what I have brought, “and a bearer of glad tidings” of Paradise “for a people who believe,” that is, who affirm the truth.

“He is the One who created you from a single soul and made from it its mate, so that he might find comfort in her. Then, when he lay with her, she carried a light burden and went about with it. But when she became heavy, they both called upon Allah, their Lord: ‘If You grant us a sound child, we will surely be among the grateful.’ (189) Yet when He granted them a sound child, they ascribed partners to Him concerning what He had granted them. Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him.” (190)

His saying, Most High: “He is the One who created you from a single soul,” means Adam; “and made,” that is, created, “from it its mate,” meaning Eve, “so that he might find comfort in her” and turn to her for shelter ⦗142a⦘. “Then, when he lay with her,” that is, when he had intercourse with her, “she carried a light burden.” This is the first thing a woman carries: the seminal drop, which is light upon her. “And went about with it,” that is, she continued with it, standing and sitting with it, without its weighing her down. “But when she became heavy,” that is, when the child grew in her womb, she became burdened by her pregnancy, and her delivery drew near. “They both called upon Allah, their Lord,” meaning Adam and Eve: “If You grant us, our Lord, a sound child,” that is, a well-formed human being like us, “we will surely be among the grateful.”

The commentators said: When Eve became pregnant, Iblis came to her in the form of a man and said to her, “What is in your womb?” She said, “I do not know.” He said, “I fear that it may be a beast, a dog, or a pig. And how do you know from where it will emerge? From your rear, thereby killing you, or from your [front] (1), splitting open your belly.” Eve became afraid because of this, and she mentioned it to Adam. They remained distressed over the matter. Then he returned to her and said, “I hold a rank with Allah. If I pray to Allah to make it a sound creature like you and make its delivery easy for you, will you name it Abd al-Harith?”—and al-Harith was the name of Iblis among the angels. She mentioned this to Adam, and he said, “Perhaps he is that companion of ours whom you know.” Iblis returned to her again and continued pressing them until he deceived them. When she gave birth, they named him