Thus His words:

“Then descend from it! It is not for you to be arrogant there.”

show that heaven and Paradise are singled out for this ruling. The pronoun in His words “from it” refers to something known, though not explicitly mentioned. This differs from His words:

“Go down to a town, and you will have what you have asked for.”

For there He did not mention the place in which they were made to descend, and here He said, “Descend,” because descent is from a higher place to a lower one. The Children of Israel were near the land of al-Sarāh, facing al-Sarāh, which overlooked the town to which they were descending. Someone who goes down from a mountain into a valley is said to have descended.

(Furthermore, the Children of Israel were travelling from place to place. When a traveller reaches a town, he is said to have “alighted there,” because he ordinarily rides during his journey and dismounts from his animals upon arrival. Thus one says, “The army alighted in such-and-such a land,” or “The caravan alighted in such-and-such a land,” because they dismounted from their animals. The word for alighting is like the word for descending: “descended” is used only for movement from a higher place to a lower one.

And His words in the two verses:

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

“He said, ‘Descend.’”

His statement here, following His words:

“Descend, as enemies to one another. On earth you will have a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.”

makes clear that they descended to the earth from somewhere other than it. And His words:

“There you will live, there you will die, and from there you will be brought forth.”

are evidence that, before this, they were not in a place where they would live, die, and be brought forth. They came to that place only when they were made to descend from Paradise.