(11–15) “We certainly created you, then fashioned you, and then We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam.’ So they prostrated themselves, except Iblis, who was not among those who prostrated.”

The Exalted says, addressing the children of Adam: “We certainly created you” by creating your origin and the substance from which you came: your father Adam, peace be upon him. “Then fashioned you” in the finest form and the best stature. Allah Most High also taught him what would perfect his inward form: the names of all things.

Then He commanded the noble angels to prostrate themselves before Adam as an act of honor and respect and as a demonstration of his excellence. They obeyed their Lord’s command, and “they prostrated themselves,” every last one of them, “except Iblis,” who refused to prostrate before him out of arrogance toward him and admiration for himself.