“They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.’”

At that point, Allah graciously enabled them to repent and accepted their repentance. They acknowledged their sin and asked Allah for forgiveness, saying, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.” That is: We committed the sin You forbade us and harmed ourselves by committing it. We have done what leads to loss unless You forgive us by erasing the effects and punishment of the sin, and have mercy upon us by accepting our repentance and protecting us from similar sins.

Allah therefore forgave them for it: “Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray. Then his Lord chose him, accepted his repentance, and guided him.”

Meanwhile, Iblīs persisted in his transgression and did not desist from his disobedience. Whoever follows Adam’s example—acknowledging his sins, seeking forgiveness, feeling remorse, and desisting when he commits them—will be chosen and guided by his Lord.

But whoever follows Iblīs’s example—continuing to increase in acts of disobedience after committing a sin—will only grow farther from Allah.