(35–36) “And We said, ‘O Adam, dwell in the Garden, you and your wife, and eat freely from it wherever you both wish. But do not approach this tree, or you will both become wrongdoers.’ Then Satan caused them to slip from it and brought them out of the state they had been in. We said, ‘Descend, as enemies to one another. On earth you will have a dwelling place and provision for a time.’”

When Allah created Adam and favored him, He completed His blessing upon him by creating from him a wife in whom he could find tranquility and whose company he could enjoy. He commanded them both to dwell in the Garden and eat from it freely—that is, abundantly and pleasantly—“wherever you both wish,” from its many kinds of fruit. Allah said to him: “There you will neither go hungry nor remain unclothed, nor will you suffer thirst or the sun’s heat.”

“But do not approach this tree”—one of the kinds of trees in the Garden, whose identity Allah knows best. He forbade them from it only as a test and trial [or for a wise purpose unknown to us] (1). “Or you will both become wrongdoers” indicates that the prohibition rendered the act forbidden, since wrongdoing was made its consequence.

Their enemy continued whispering to them and making what they had been forbidden appear attractive until he caused them to slip—that is, through his enticement, he induced them to lapse. “And he swore to them by Allah, ‘I am truly a sincere adviser to you both.’” They were deceived by him and obeyed him, so he brought them out of the bliss and abundance they had enjoyed, and they were sent down to an abode of toil, weariness, and striving.

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“As enemies to one another”—that is, Adam and his descendants are enemies of Iblīs and his descendants. It is well known that an enemy exerts every effort to harm his foe, bring evil upon him by every means, and deprive him of good by every means. This therefore contains a warning to the children of Adam against Satan, as Allah Most High said: “Satan is indeed an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only calls his followers so that they may become companions of the Blaze.” And: “Will you then take him and his descendants as allies instead of Me, although they are your enemies? What an evil exchange for the wrongdoers!”

He then stated the destination to which they were sent down—the earth—saying: “On earth you will have a dwelling place,” meaning a place of residence and settlement, “and provision for a time,” until your appointed terms expire. You will then leave it for the abode for which you were created and which was created for you. This shows that the duration of this life is temporary and fleeting; it is not a true home, but merely a passage from which provisions are gathered for that abode, and it is not to be made into a permanent dwelling.