Allah the Almighty addressed him:
“Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily Satan is an open enemy unto you?” They said:
“Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your
Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers.” Allah said; “Get down, one of you an enemy to the
other (Adam, Eve, and Satan etc). On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment,
for a time.” He said: “Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be
brought out (resurrected).” (7:22-25).
Again there are old stories about these events. Al Hafez Ibn Asaker narrated that Allah
commanded two angels to remove Adam from His holy proximity. So Gabriel stripped him of the crown on his head, and Michael took the diadem from his forehead. Adam thought that his
punishment had been hastened and bowed down crying; “Forgiveness! Forgiveness!” so Allah
asked: “Are you running away from Me? ” Adam replied, “No, my Lord, but I am shy of You.”
Abdul Rahman Ibn Amru Al – Awza’iy said that Adam spent 100 years in Paradise. In another
narration it was said he spent 60 years. Ibn Asaker reported that Adam wept for 60 years for his loss of Paradise and 70 years for his mistake, and he wept for another 70 years when his son was killed. They left Paradise and descended upon the earth. Adam was sad and Eve was crying. Allah accepted their repentance because it was sincere and He told them that the earth would be their realm and origin where they would live and die and whence they would come on the Day of Judgment.
Allah the Almighty recounted this third lesson Adam learned in Paradise:
“Indeed We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found on his part no firm will power. Remember when We said to the angels “Prostrate yourselves to Adam.” They
prostrated (all) except Iblis, who refused. then We said: “O Adam! verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife. so let him not get you both out of Paradise, so that you be distressed in misery.
Verily, you have (a promise from Us) that you will never be hungry therein nor naked. And you
will suffer not from thrist therein nor from the sun’s heat.”
then Satan whispered to him, saying “O Adam! Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a
kingdom that will never waste away?” Then they both ate of that tree, and so their private parts
appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their
covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Then his Lord chose him, and
turned to him with forgiveness and gave him guidance.
Allah said: “Get you down (upon the earth), both of you, together from Paradise, some of you
are an enemy to some others. THen if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever
follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery. But whosoever
turns away from My Reminder (neither believes in this Quran nor acts on its orders etc). Verily,
for him is a life of hardship and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.”
He will say: “O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight before.” Allah will
said: “like this, Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). came unto you, but you disregarded them (you left them, did not think deeply in them, and you turned away from them), and so this Day, you will be neglected in the Hellfire, away from Allah’s Mercy.)”
And thus do We requite him who transgresses beyond bounds (commits the great sins and
disobeys his Lord (allah) and believes not in His Messengers, and His revealed Books, like this Quran etc), and believes not in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). of his Lord, and the torment of the Hereafter is far more severe and more lasting.”
(Ch 20:115-127)
Commentary: Why Adam and Eve Descended
Some people believe that the reason why mankind does not dwell in Paradise is that Adam was disobedient and that if it had not been for this sin, we could have been there all along. These are naive fictions because when Allah wanted to create Adam, He said to the angels, “I shall make a vicegerent on the earth.” He did not say, “I shall make a vicegerent in Paradise.”
Adam’s descent on earth, then, was not due to degradation but rather it was dignified descent.
Allah knew that Adam and Eve would eat of the tree and descend to earth. He knew that Satan would rape their innocence. That experience was essential for their life on earth; it was a cornerstone of their vicegerency. It was meant to teach Adam, Eve, and their progeny that it was Satan who had caused them to be expelled from Paradise and that the road to Paradise can only be reached by obedience to Allah and enmity to Satan.
Commentary: Adam’s Free Will
Could it be said that Adam and the rest of mankind were predestined to sin and to be expelled
from Paradise and sent to the earth? In fact, this fiction is as naive as the first one.
Adam complete free will, and he bore the consequences of his deed. He disobeyed by eating of the forbidden tree, so Allah dismissed him from Paradise. His disobedience does not negate his freedom. On the contrary it is a consequence of it.
The truth of the matter is that Allah knew what was going to happen, as He always know the
outcome of events before they take place. However Allah does not force things to happen. He
grants free will to His human creatures. On that He bases His supreme wisdom in populating the earth, establishing the vicegerents, and so on.
Adam understood his 3rd lesson. He knew now in a practical way that Iblis was his enemy, the
cause of his losing the blessing of living in Paradise, and the cause of his distress. Adam also
understood that Allah punishes disobedience and that the way of Paradise has to be through
submission to the will of Allah. And he learned from Allah Almighty to ask for forgiveness.
Allah accepted Adam’s repentance and forgave him. He then sent him to the earth as His first messenger.