Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:117

"Then We said, O Adam" — immediately following that, out of concern for advising Adam, peace be upon him — "Indeed, this" — the one from whom you have seen what you have seen — "is an enemy to you and to your wife." The preposition lam (in li-zawjika) is repeated because, according to the majority of grammarians, one cannot conjoin [a noun] to a genitive pronoun without repeating the preposition. It is also said that it was repeated to indicate that the enemy’s enmity toward the wife is primary, not derivative. This is self-evident according to the view of Ibn Malik, who holds that repeating the preposition is not necessary in such cases. As for the view that it is necessary, it has been argued that a rule being mandatory according to grammatical norms does not negate the intention to convey what the context requires.

The noble Sayyid has clarified in his commentary on al-Miftah regarding the author of al-Miftah’s decision to make the noun of specification (tamyeez) indefinite in the verse, "And the head has flared with white hair," to signify intensification, in a manner that guides toward this. It is not hidden that the expression "your wife" instead of "Eve" serves to increase repulsion and warning against him.

There is disagreement regarding the cause of the enmity. It is said to be mere envy; he—may the curse of Allah and the curse of His followers be upon him—was the first to envy. It is also said that it was because he was an ignorant elder, while Adam, peace be upon him, was a learned youth; the ignorant elder is forever an enemy to the learned youth, or rather, the ignorant person, in absolute terms, is an enemy to the learned, as it is said: "The ignorant are enemies to the people of knowledge."

It is also said that the incompatibility of their origins [is the cause], for the accursed one was created from fire, while Adam, peace be upon him, was created from clay, and Eve was created from him. Imam al-Razi has mentioned all of these.

"So let him not drive you both out of Paradise" — meaning, let him not be a cause for your expulsion from Paradise. This is a metonymy for forbidding them from placing themselves in a position where Satan could cause their expulsion, similar to the Almighty’s saying: "So let there be no constriction in your breast." The particle fa (so) denotes the sequence of the prohibition’s consequence following his enmity toward them, or following the informing them of it.

"And you would suffer" — that is, you would toil with the hardships of worldly life, which are nearly uncountable, and from which no one is safe. Attributing this specifically to him (Adam), after suspending the expulsion that causes it upon both of them, is because he is the principal in affairs, and his toil necessitates hers as a dependent, along with the fact that it observes the verse-endings in the most perfect manner. It is said that "suffering" refers to the toil in acquiring the means of livelihood, which is a duty of men. This is supported by what ‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn ‘Asakir, and a group narrated from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, who said: "When Adam, peace be upon him, was brought down from Paradise, a piebald bull met him, and it was said to him: 'Work with it.' He began to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said: 'This is what my Lord promised me: So let him not drive you both out of Paradise, and you would suffer.' Then he called out, 'Eve! Eve! You have done this to me!' Thus, there is no one among the children of Adam who works with a bull but that he says: 'O Eve, you came upon them through Adam, peace be upon him.'" It is also supported by the subsequent verse, though there is room for reflection in this, and perhaps the opinion of generality is more appropriate.

Tashqa (you would suffer) may be read as in the subjunctive case due to a hidden an (to) in the answer to the prohibition, or it may be read as in the nominative case as a new sentence, with the meaning "for you will suffer." This latter view is considered far-fetched, because the intent is not to inform him of the occurrence of suffering, but rather that if the expulsion occurs, that result will happen.