And Adam’s eating from the tree, and all other events, fall within this command just as Adam himself does. It is Adam’s very act of eating that falls within this command, just as Adam himself does.

Thus, saying that He inwardly said to Adam, “Eat,” is like saying that He said to the disbeliever, “Disbelieve,” and to the transgressor, “Transgress.” Yet Allah does not command indecency, does not love corruption, and does not approve of disbelief for His servants. Neither inwardly nor outwardly does He address disbelievers, transgressors, and sinners with a command to commit disbelief, transgression, or disobedience, even though these occur through His will, power, creation, and command pertaining to creation. For the command pertaining to creation is not a command instructing the servant to perform that act. Rather, it is a command bringing that act into being within the servant, or bringing the servant into that state.

It is He, glorified be He, who created man prone to anxiety:

“When evil touches him, impatient,”

“And when good touches him, withholding.”

And it is He who made Muslims submit to Him, as Abraham, His intimate friend, said:

“Our Lord, make us both submissive to You, and from our descendants a nation submissive to You.”

Thus He, glorified be He, placed His servants in the states in which He created them. His command to them to that effect is a command pertaining to creation, meaning that He says to them, “Be thus,” and they are thus, just as He says to an inanimate thing, “Be,” and it is. The command pertaining to creation makes no distinction between inanimate things and living beings. It does not depend on the knowledge, will, or power of the one commanded.

The servant may, however, know what divine decree has brought about in his own circumstances, just as he knows what divine decree has brought about in the circumstances of others. This does not mean that he knows Allah has inwardly commanded him to do the opposite of what He has outwardly commanded him. Rather, He has commanded him to obey Him inwardly