and forbade them associationism, unlawful killing, fornication, and drinking wine. As for Azazil, when desire entered his heart, he turned to his Lord and asked Him to raise him to heaven. Allah excused him, and he prostrated for forty years without raising his head. Thereafter, he continued to bow his head out of shame before Allah Most High.
As for the other two, they remained steadfast in this. They judged between people during the day, and when evening came, they invoked Allah’s Greatest Name and ascended to heaven. Qatadah said, “Not even a month passed before they were tempted.” They all said that one day Zuhrah, one of the most beautiful of women, came before them in a dispute. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “She was one of the people of Persia and was a queen in her land.” When they saw her, she captivated their hearts, and they solicited her. But she refused and left.
She returned on the second day, and they did the same, but she refused and said, “No—unless you worship what I worship, pray before this idol, kill a person, and drink wine.” They replied, “There is no way we can do these things, for Allah Most High has forbidden them to us.” So she left. Then, on the third day, ⦗16/b⦘ she returned with a goblet of wine. Their hearts were already deeply inclined toward her, so they solicited her, and she offered them what she had proposed the day before. They said, “Praying to other than Allah is grave, and killing a person is grave; the least serious of the three is drinking wine.” So they drank the wine and became intoxicated. They then had intercourse with the woman and committed fornication. When they had finished, a man saw them, so they killed him. Al-Rabi ibn Anas said, “They also prostrated to the idol.” Then Allah transformed Zuhrah into a star.
Others said: A woman of surpassing beauty came to them in a dispute with her husband. One of them said to the other, “Do you feel what I feel—love for this woman?” (1) The other replied, “Yes.” The first said, “Will you rule in her favor against her husband, according to what she says?” His companion replied, “Do you not know the punishment and torment that Allah has?” The other said, “Do you not know the pardon and mercy that Allah has?” Then they solicited her. She said, “No, unless you kill him.” One of them said, “Do you not know the punishment and torment that Allah has?” His companion said, “Do you not know the pardon and mercy that Allah has?” So they killed him and then solicited her. She said, “No. I have an idol that I worship; if you pray to it with me, I will comply.” One of them said to his companion the same as before, and his companion gave the same reply. So they prayed to it with her, and she was transformed into a shooting star.
Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, al-Kalbi, and al-Suddi said that when they solicited her, she said to them, “You will not attain me until you tell me by what means you ascend to heaven.” They answered, “By Allah’s Greatest Name.” She said, “Then you will not attain me until you teach it to me.” One of them said to his companion, “Teach her.” He replied, “I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds.” The other said, “Then where is the mercy of Allah Most High?” So they taught it to her. She uttered it and ascended to heaven, whereupon Allah transformed her into a star.
Some held that she was Zuhrah herself, while others rejected this and said: Zuhrah is one of the seven wandering planets by which Allah swore, saying, “So I swear by the retreating stars—the ones that move and disappear” (Surah al-Takwir, 81:15). The woman who tempted Harut and Marut was called Zuhrah because of her beauty; when she committed wickedness, Allah Most High transformed her into a shooting star. They said: When Harut and Marut came to evening after they had committed the sin,