great benefit in determining its species. Accordingly, we do not know whether the tree was an olive, a stalk of wheat, a grapevine, or a date-palm—we simply do not know. Our duty is to leave it undefined just as Allah left it undefined; had there been any advantage in specifying it, Allah would surely have specified it.

Allah therefore said to Adam and Eve, “and do not approach this tree, lest you become of the wrongdoers” (al-Baqarah 2:35). Then Satan came to them, whispered to them, lured them with delusion, and swore to them, “I am truly a sincere adviser to you.” This is exactly how he deals with the children of Adam: he beguiles them, entices them, whispers to them, and swears, “I am your well-wisher,” while he is nothing but a liar.

So Adam will recall his sin—and that of his wife—namely, that he ate from this tree. Allah commanded them both to descend from the Garden to the earth; they came down, and from them sprang the progeny that includes the prophets, the messengers, the martyrs, and the righteous. Adam will present this eating from the tree as his excuse. The fact that, in the hadith of intercession, Adam excuses himself by referring to his eating from the tree is evidence that the story reported from Ibn ʿAbbās is baseless—the story that Eve became pregnant, Satan came to her and said, “Name the child ʿAbd al-Ḥārith, or I will place horns on him so that he will come out of your womb and tear it apart.” They refused to obey him. He came a second time, and again they refused. He came a third time, and the love they felt for the child overcame them, so they named him ʿAbd al-Ḥārith. Some narrators then cited this as an explanation of Allah’s words: “It is He who created you from a single soul and made from it its mate so that he might find comfort in her. When he covered her, she conceived a light burden and carried it about; but when it grew heavy, they both called upon Allah, their Lord, saying, ‘If You grant us a righteous child, we shall surely be among the thankful.’ Yet when He granted them a righteous child, they ascribed partners to Him in what He had given them. Exalted is Allah above what they associate with Him” (al-Aʿrāf 7:189-190).