Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:22

"So he misled them with deception..."

"Fadallahuma" (So he misled them): That is, he brought them down from their high position and lowered them from the rank of obedience to the rank of disobedience. It is derived from the expression "lowering the bucket into the well," as stated by Abu Ubaydah and others. Al-Azhari stated that it means he enticed them, with its root being the act of a thirsty person lowering something into a well, only to find nothing to quench his burning thirst. It is also said to be derived from al-dalah, meaning audacity or boldness; thus, he made them bold, as in the saying, "I believe the dream made my people bold, and often a gentle man is treated as ignorant," where one of the doubled letters is replaced by a ya.

"With deception" (bi-ghurur): That is, by what he deceived them with through swearing, or while being engaged in it. The ba (in bi-ghurur) denotes accompaniment or engagement, and the prepositional phrase is a state (hal) of either the subject or the object. Some have considered "deception" a metaphor for the oath because it is the cause of it, though there is no need for such an interpretation.

The cause of their deception, according to several scholars, is that they thought no one would swear by Allah the Almighty falsely. They narrated a report regarding this. The literal meaning of this is that they believed what he said and thus proceeded to do what they were forbidden from.

However, many investigative scholars hold that there was no belief on their part, neither with certainty nor by supposition. They proceeded toward the forbidden act only due to the overwhelming nature of desire, just as we find within ourselves that we proceed with an act if another embellishes what we desire, even if we do not believe that the matter is as he says. Perhaps the speech of the accursed one, in this view, was akin to poetic premises that stirred desire until it overwhelmed them, causing them to forget the prohibition, leading to the act without deliberation.

Al-Qutb said: It is possible to say that when the accursed one whispered to them, saying, "I do not forbid you..." (and the rest of the verse), they did not accept it from him until he resorted to an oath, as Allah Almighty said: "And he swore to them both." Yet, they did not believe him even then, so he resorted to something else. It is as if the Almighty alluded to this with His saying: "So he misled them with deception," which is that he preoccupied them with the attainment of pleasures until they became immersed in them, causing them to forget the prohibition—as indicated by the Almighty’s saying: "And he forgot, and We did not find in him determination." The subsequent rebuke is thus directed at the failure to maintain caution. Reflect upon this.

"So when they tasted of the tree..." That is, they ate from it a little.

"...their shame became apparent to them." Al-Kalbi said: Their garments fell away from them, and each of them saw the private part of the other and felt ashamed.

"And they began..." (wa-tafiqa): That is, they took to and commenced doing something; it is one of the verbs of initiation (af'al al-shuru'). The kasra on the fa here is more eloquent than the fatha, and it is the reading of Abu al-Samal.

"...to fasten together..." (yakhsifan): That is, they began to patch and stick leaves one upon another. The root meaning of khasf is the sewing/stitching of shoe soles and the like by attaching parts to one another. It is also said that its root is to bring together and gather.

"...over themselves..." That is, over their private parts or over their bodies; thus, there is an implied noun in the sentence. It is also said that the pronoun refers to their private parts.

"...from the leaves of Paradise." This was some of the fig leaves, as narrated from Qatadah; it is also said to be banana leaves. Al-Zuhri read it as yukhsi-fan (from akhsafa). Its root is khasafa, but as Al-Jarburdi stated, it was transferred to akhsafa to convey a transitive meaning. The verb was imbued with the meaning of "making something become," so the agent became the object of the transition in meaning, surpassing the original form of the verb. Thus, the estimation is: "They were making themselves fasten [the leaves] upon themselves from the leaves of Paradise," but the object of the transition was omitted. Some permitted khasafa and akhsafa to have the same meaning. Al-Hasan read it as yakhtasifan with a fatha on the ya, a kasra on the kha, and a shadda on the sad (as a form of ifti'al). Its root is yakhtasifan; the ta became quiescent and assimilated, then the kha was given a kasra due to the meeting of two quiescent letters. Ya'qub read it with a fatha [on the kha]. It was also read as yakhsufan from the doubled khasafa with a fatha on the kha, which was then given a damma to follow the ya; it is a reading difficult to pronounce.

"And their Lord called to them..." By way of rebuke and reproach.

"...'Did I not forbid you...'" This is an explanation of the call, and thus it has no grammatical standing, or it is the object of an implied verb—meaning He said, or while saying: "Did I not forbid you..."

"...from that tree?" An indication of the tree they were forbidden from approaching, and the dual form is because the addressee is dual.

"And say to you..." This is a conjunction to "forbid you," meaning: Did I not say to you that Satan is to you a manifest enemy?

"...a manifest enemy." That is, plain in his enmity. This, as has been said, is a rebuke and reproach for being deceived by the words of the enemy, just as the former is a rebuke for violating the prohibition. This statement was not recounted here, though it was recounted in Surah Taha with His saying: "Indeed, this is an enemy to you and your wife..." And "to you" relates to "enemy" because of the meaning of the verb contained within it, or it relates to an implied element that serves as a state (hal) of it.

Some have used this verse as evidence that an absolute prohibition implies unlawfulness, given the severe blame it contains along with the remorse and repentance that are understood from what follows. However, the majority hold that the prohibition here is for disapproval (tanzih), and their remorse and repentance were for abandoning what was better (tark al-awla), which, in their view, was a grave matter, and for which one may be blamed most severely if the one who commits it is among those brought near.