As for Adam, peace be upon him, he first acknowledged his sin, saying:

“We have wronged ourselves.”

Adam had nothing within him that contested his desire to obey Allah’s command in a way that would rival Allah’s exclusive right to worship. Rather, he believed Satan to be truthful when he

“swore to them both, ‘I am indeed a sincere adviser to you.’”

“Thus he brought about their fall through deception.”

Satan deceived them both and presented himself as their sincere adviser. Having accepted his deception and apparent sincerity, their condition called for them to say:

“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves.”

This was because of their negligence, not because of some desire or personal interest competing with Allah’s exclusive right to worship. They needed Him to nurture them as their Lord, perfecting their knowledge and intention so that they would not be deceived in such a way again. Thus they recognized their need for Allah, their Lord, whose place no one else could take in meeting their needs.

Jonah, the man of the fish, recognized that his departure in anger and his aversion to those people’s being saved had involved a failure to fulfil Allah’s exclusive right to worship. This involved a degree of opposition in action, arising from love for something else, which required him to devote his love and worship entirely to Allah and to say:

“There is no god but You.”

For when a servant says, “There is no god but You,” this eradicates his taking his own desire as a god. It has been reported:

“Beneath the vault of heaven, no object of worship is more grievous in Allah’s sight than desire that is followed.”

Thus Jonah, may Allah’s blessings be upon him, perfected his devotion to Allah as his only God and his rejection of desire taken as a god besides Him. When he fully realized the meaning of his words, “There is no god but You,” no desire remained in him—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—that competed with the True One’s exclusive right to worship. Rather, he devoted his worship sincerely to Allah, for he was among the finest of Allah’s sincere servants.

And (also), such a state may befall someone, leaving within him