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Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:20

Surah Al-A'raf 7:20

ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ ﲶ ﲷ ﲸ ﲹ ﲺ ﲻ ﲼ ﲽ

But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal."

Tafsir

Ruh al-Ma'ani

Verse range: 7:20

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(Then the devil whispered to them) Meaning, he performed the act of whispering for their sake, or he cast [the suggestion] into them. *Waswasa* (whispering) originally denotes a repeated, faint sound. From this, the sound of jewelry is called *waswasa*. The form *fa‘lala* is frequently used for sounds, such as *haynama* (muttering), *hamhama* (low murmuring), and *khashkhasha* (rustling). It is also applied to the discourse of the self. Its verb is *waswasa*, which is intransitive. One says, "A man is *muwawwis*" (obsessed/whispering), with a *kasra* on the *waw*, through the omission of the [preposition] and the connection [of the object]. The discussion regarding the manner of the cursed one's whispering has already been pointed out in Surah Al-Baqarah.

(To reveal to them) Meaning, to show them. The *lam* (in *li-yubdiya*) is either for the consequence, because the devil did not intend that by his whispering, nor did it cross his mind; rather, the matter simply leaned toward it. Or, it is for the cause (*ta’lil*), according to its primary usage. It is not far-fetched that he intended by his whispering to distress them through the uncovering of their private parts, and that is why he referred to them as *saw’ah* (shameful things). This would be based on intuition, or knowledge through hearing from the angels, or through insight into the Preserved Tablet. It has been said: In this is evidence that uncovering the private part in privacy and in the presence of one's spouse without necessity is ugly and reproached in human nature.

(What was hidden from them of their shame) Meaning, what was covered and veiled from their private parts. They were not seeing them—neither themselves nor one from the other. They were veiled by light, according to what Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and others narrated from Wahb ibn Munabbih, or [clothed] in a garment like a nail, according to what Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Al-Suddi. The pluralization of *saw’at* (shameful things) is like the phrase *saghat qulubukuma* (your hearts have swerved), and considering the parts [of the body] as distinct is far-fetched; the literal meaning is what is suggested by this speech. It is also said: It is a metonymy for the removal of sanctity and the downfall of status.

Wuriya (was hidden) is written with two waws, the past tense of wara (to hide), like daraba and duriba; its alif has been substituted with a waw. The first waw is the radical of the word, and the second is additional. Abdullah [ibn Mas'ud] recited it as uriya with a hamza, because the rule is: if two waws meet at the beginning of a word, and the second is mobile—if it has a mobile counterpart—it is necessary to change the first into a hamza for ease of pronunciation. The example of the first is uwisila and uwawisila in the diminutive of wasil. The example of the second is ula, whose root is wula; the first was changed because the second became mobile in the plural, which is awal. If it does not move, neither actually nor potentially, then substitution or keeping it is permissible, as in this case—this is what Al-Shihab stated, quoting the grammarians. It was also recited as saw’atahuma in the singular with a hamza according to the base form; as sawatahuma by substituting the hamza with a waw and merging the waw into the waw; as saw’atuhuma in the plural by transferring the vowel of the hamza to the preceding letter and dropping it; and as sawata-huma by transferring, changing the hamza to a waw, and merging.

(And he said) This is linked to *waswasa* by way of clarification:

(Your Lord has not forbidden you from this tree except that you become angels) This is an exclusionary exception (*istithna’ mufarragh*) from the object of cause (*maf’ul lahu*), with the supposition of a genitive addition or the omission of the negation particle, so that it becomes the cause—that is: "out of dislike that you become," or "lest you become angels."

(Or that you become of the immortals) Meaning, those who do not die at all, or those who remain forever in Paradise. Ibn Abbas and Yahya ibn Kathir recited it as *malikayn* (possessors of dominion) with a *kasra* on the *lam*. Al-Zajjaj said: The statement of the Most High, narrating from the cursed one, bears witness to this reading: "Shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and dominion that does not decay?"

Evidence has been drawn from the verse for the superiority of the angels, since the cursed one said that and was not rebuked, and Adam—peace be upon him—committed the forbidden act out of desire for what the devil indicated regarding becoming an angel; so, were they [the angels] not superior, he would not have committed it. It has been answered that their desire was only to obtain the attributes of the angels from innate perfections and to be free from the need for food, drink, and the like. We do not deny the superiority of the angels in these aspects; we only deny their superiority in all aspects, and the verse does not prove that. Furthermore, it may be said that their desire was only for immortality. In Surah Ta-Ha, there is that which points to this, as it follows the encouragement for immortality with eating. This was objected to on the grounds that their desire for immortality entails disbelief. The response is that the intended meaning of immortality is the length of stay, and belief in that is not disbelief. Even if we grant that the intended meaning is eternal duration, we do not concede that believing in that at that time was disbelief, because knowledge of death and resurrection thereafter depends on scriptural evidence, and perhaps it had not reached them at that time. Some claimed that the intended meaning of immortality is the contingent immortality after death by entering Paradise; in that case, there is no problem, although it is contrary to the apparent meaning.

From Al-Sayyid al-Murtada regarding the meaning of the verse, he said: The cursed one made them believe that the one forbidden from consuming the tree were the angels and the immortals specifically, excluding them; just as one of us says to another: "I have not forbidden you from such-and-such except that you be so-and-so," meaning that the one forbidden is so-and-so, not you. And this is as you can see.