فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ ۖ وَقُلْنَا ٱهْبِطُوا۟ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّۭ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّۭ وَمَتَٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍۢ
But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."
Introduction
This is āyah 36 of Sūrat Al-Baqara (The Cow), the 87th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 1. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 87 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Baqara (2)
Then Satan made them slip therefrom. Look at this wonder: First He caressed the servant and put all his little jobs in order, then He sent him into tumult and overthrew what He had done for him, and then He rebuked him. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, You show your friends to the enemies and You turn the poor ones over to heartache and grief. You make them ill, and then You take care of them Your- self. You make them helpless, and then You heal them Yourself. “You made Adam out of dust, and then You acted so beautifully toward him. You placed his happiness at the top of the ledger and made him the guest in paradise. You sat him in the garden of approval, You made a compact with him not to eat the wheat, and in Your unseen knowledge You hid the fact that he would in fact eat the wheat. Then You put him in prison, and You made him weep for years. Your all-compellingness does the work of compellers, Your lordhood does the work of lords. All of Your rebukes and war are aimed at Your friends.” The Pir of the Tariqah was asked, “What do you say: Was Adam more complete in this world or in paradise?” He said, “He was more complete in this world, for in paradise he fell into suspicion because of himself, but in this world he fell into suspicion because of passion.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Take care not to have the opinion that Adam was taken out of paradise because of his lowliness. It was not that. Rather, it was because of the grandeur of his aspiration. The petitioner of passion came to the door of Adam's breast and said, 'O Adam, the beauty of meaning has been unveiled, but you have stayed in the abode of peace.' Adam saw an infinite beauty, next to which the beauty of the eight paradises was nothing. His great aspiration tightened its belt and said: 'If you ever want to fall in love, you must fall in love with that.'” If there's no escape from feeding passion to the spirit I'll suffer passion's grief for the likes of You. The command came, “Adam, now that you have stepped into the street of passion, leave paradise, for it is the house of ease.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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