and Abd al-Rahman, but they would die. Then Iblis came to them and said, “If it would please you for a child of yours to live, then name him Abd al-Harith.” She gave birth, and they named him Abd al-Harith, and he lived. It is related in a hadith: “Iblis deceived them both twice: once in Paradise and once on earth.”

Ibn Zayd said: A child was born to Adam, and he named him Abd Allah. Then Iblis came to them and asked, “What have you named your son?” They replied, “Abd Allah.” Another child had previously been born to them, whom they had named Abd Allah, but he died. Iblis then said, “Do you suppose that Allah will leave His servant with you? No, by Allah, He will surely take him away just as He took the other. But I will direct you to a name by which he will remain with you as long as you both live.” So they named him Abd Shams.

The first report is more sound. This is indicated by His saying: “Then, when He gave them a sound child”—a well-formed human being—“they assigned partners to Him in what He had given them.”

The people of Madinah and Abu Bakr recited “a partnership,” with the letter shin pronounced with a kasrah and the word made indefinite; that is, a share. Abu Ubaydah said: that is, a portion and a share. The others recited “partners,” with the shin pronounced with a dammah and the word lengthened, as the plural of “partner”; that is, Iblis. Although it refers to one individual, the plural form is used. In other words, they assigned to Him a partner when they named him Abd al-Harith.

This was not associating partners with Allah in worship, nor did it mean that al-Harith was their lord. Adam was a prophet, safeguarded from associating partners with Allah. Rather, they intended that al-Harith had been the means for the child’s survival and his mother’s safety. Moreover, the term