Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:33

He, Glorified be He, called Adam by his proper name, as is His custom with His prophets, except for our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), whom He addressed as "O Prophet" and "O Messenger" due to his lofty rank and exalted status, for he is the Greatest Successor and the mystery behind the creation of Adam.

He, Glorified be He, did not say, "Inform Me," as occurred in the matter of the angels, despite the desired outcome being achieved in that case as well—namely, the manifestation of Adam’s superiority. This was to demonstrate the disparity between the two ranks and to inform the angels that his knowledge (peace be upon him) was manifest and did not require what functions as a test, and that he was worthy of teaching others. It may also have been so that he (peace be upon him) might possess the perfection of the favor of teaching, as he was established in the position of the benefactor, while they were placed in the position of those benefiting from him; or it may have been to prevent awe from overwhelming him, for the informing by a scholar is not like the informing by others. The intent behind "informing" (al-inba') here is imparting knowledge, not merely telling news, as previously mentioned.

In this is evidence for those who say that the knowledge and perfections of the angels are subject to increase. Some have denied this regarding the highest tier of them, and have interpreted the verse, "And there is none among us except that he has a known station," accordingly. The words of some suggest a denial of the acquisition of progressive knowledge for them; perhaps what is acquired is knowledge of "saying," not "state," and the difference is manifest to those of refined taste.

Ibn Abbas recited anbi’hum with a hamza and a kasra on the ha’, and anbi’hum by changing the hamza into a ya’. Al-Hasan recited anbuhum like a'tuhum (give them). The "names" refers to that which they were unable to know and confessed their incapacity to reach the rank of understanding. The pronoun refers to those who were presented, as previously mentioned.

Then, when he informed them of their names—a sentence conjoined to a deleted one, the estimation being: "So he informed them of them. Then when he informed them," etc. It was deleted because the meaning is understood, and the names were expressed where a pronoun would suffice to demonstrate the perfection of care regarding them, while pointing to the fact that he (peace be upon him) informed them of them in detail, not in summary. Their knowledge of his truthfulness came from the evidence necessitating it, and the matter is too manifest to be hidden. It is not far-fetched that He, Glorified be He, informed them of the evidence for that. The possibility that each class of them possessed a language or knowledge of a thing, and then all were brought together—so each class knew the correctness of his [Adam’s] knowledge in that language or that thing—is far-fetched.

This is a response to "what" [in "What you reveal"], a confirmation of the previously mentioned general answer, and a presentation of it in a way that is more explicit and clearer. The conciseness in the verse is manifest; for the apparent phrasing would be: "I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth and their visible aspects, and I know what you reveal and what you were concealing, and what you will reveal and what you will conceal." However, He, Glorified be He, restricted it to "the unseen of the heavens and the earth" because their visible aspects are known from that by priority. He restricted the past to what was concealed because the manifest is known from that likewise, and he restricted the future to the "revealed" because before its occurrence, it is unseen—so there is no difference between it and other unseen things.

The change in style, where He did not say "and [what] you conceal," is perhaps to indicate the continuity of concealment. Thus the meaning is: I know what you reveal before you reveal it, and I know what you continue to conceal. Al-Sialikuti mentioned that the word kana (were) is superfluous, serving no purpose other than pure emphasis suitable for concealment.

The apparent meaning of the verse is general, although "what you do not know" is more comprehensive in concept, as it includes the unseen of the unseen, which encompasses the Essence of Allah and His attributes. Some have restricted it: some said the "unseen of the heavens" is the eating of Adam and Eve from the tree, and the "unseen of the earth" is Cain’s killing of Abel. Some said the first is what He decreed regarding His creation, and the second is what they did on earth after the decree. Some said the first is what was hidden from the near-stationed angels of the secrets of the High Kingdom that He reserved for Himself, and the second is what was hidden from His chosen ones of the secrets of the Lower Kingdom, the matters of the Hereafter, and the former.

As for what they revealed: it was their saying, "Will You place therein [one who causes corruption]?" And what they concealed: it was their saying, "Allah will not create anyone more noble to Him than us." It has been said: it is what they showed afterward of compliance. It has also been said: it is the pride that Iblis harbored. Attributing concealment to all of them in that case is like saying, "The family of so-and-so killed so-and-so," while the killer is one of them. The meaning of concealment in any case is the failure to manifest what is in the soul to anyone present in the assembly. It does not mean that they concealed anything from Allah, in their estimation, for that does not happen even from Iblis. He, Glorified be He, made the verb [acting upon] "what you reveal" manifest to show concern for informing them of that which struck them with awe. The apparent interpretation is that it is conjoined to the first, so it is included with it under that statement. It is also possible that it is conjoined to the sentence "Did I not say," so it is not included under it.