سورة طه

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir narrates from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) regarding the verse: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَی آدَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination], that he said: "We made a covenant with Adam concerning Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the Imams (peace be upon them) after him, but he abandoned that covenant and did not have firm determination concerning the fact that they are such. The Ulul-Azm (possessors of resolve) prophets were named Ulul-Azm because Allah made a covenant with them concerning Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the successors after him and al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) and his conduct, and they attained certainty that these persons are so, and acknowledged it."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Hamran narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) that he said: "When Allah created the creation, He mixed sweet water and bitter salty water, took clay from the surface of the earth, kneaded it hard and mixed it, and in the world of particles (alam al-dharr) He said to the People of the Right: 'Run toward Paradise in peace!' And He said to the People of the Left: 'Run toward Hellfire, I do not care!' Then He said: أَ لَسْتُ بِرَبِّکُمْ [Am I not your Lord?] They said: بَلَی شَهِدْنا [Yes, we bear witness] — lest you should say on the Day of Judgment: 'Indeed we were heedless of this.' (al-A'raf/172) Then He took the covenant from the prophets and said: 'Am I not your Lord?' Then He said: 'And that this Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is the Messenger of Allah and this Ali (peace be upon him) is Amir al-Mu'minin?' They said: 'Yes.' So prophethood was established for them. And He took the covenant from the Ulul-Azm prophets that: 'I am your Lord, and Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is My messenger, and Ali (peace be upon him) is Amir al-Mu'minin, and his successors after him are the rulers of My command and the treasurers of My knowledge, and al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) is the helper of My religion — through him I will manifest My religion, and through him, willingly or unwillingly, I will take revenge on My enemies, and through him I will be worshipped.' They said: 'We acknowledge, O Lord, and we bear witness.' But Adam neither denied nor acknowledged. So the station of Ulul-Azm was reserved for these five. Adam (peace be upon him) had no firm resolve to acknowledge concerning al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief), and this verse points to that: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدم مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination] — meaning he abandoned it. Then He kindled a fire and said to the People of the Left: 'Enter the fire!' They were afraid. So He said to the People of the Right: 'Enter!' They entered, and the fire became cool and safe for them. The People of the Left said: 'O Lord! Allow us to enter as well.' He said: 'Go and enter.' Again they were afraid. It was from there that obedience, disobedience and wilaya were established."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Sallam ibn al-Mustanir narrates: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said regarding the interpretation of the word of Allah: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدم مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination]: "When Allah told Adam (peace be upon him) to enter Paradise, He said to him: 'O Adam (peace be upon him)! Do not approach this tree!' — and He showed him that tree. Adam (peace be upon him) said to his Lord: 'How could I approach it when You have forbidden it to me and my wife?' He said to them: 'Do not approach it!' Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife said: 'Our Lord! Very well, we shall not approach it and we shall not eat from it.' And after their 'very well' they did not say 'in sha Allah'. So Allah left them, in this matter, to themselves and to their own remembrance."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Indeed Allah the Blessed and Exalted made a covenant with Adam (peace be upon him) that he should not approach the tree. When the time which was known in Allah's knowledge that Adam (peace be upon him) would eat from the fruit of the tree arrived, Adam (peace be upon him) forgot his covenant and ate from it. This is the meaning of the verse: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدم مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination]. When Adam (peace be upon him) ate from the forbidden tree, he was sent down to the earth.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدَمَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination]; among the things which Allah had forbidden him was the eating of the plant.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The meaning of the verse: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدم مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We did not find in him any determination]; is that Allah the Exalted made a covenant [with Adam (peace be upon him)] — that is, He commanded and enjoined him — but Adam (peace be upon him) did not pay attention.

Imam Baqir and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon them): Jamil ibn Darraj narrates from one of the Shia: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him): "How did Allah the Exalted take Adam (peace be upon him) to task on account of forgetfulness?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "Adam (peace be upon him) did not forget, and how could Adam forget while he remembered Allah's prohibition and Iblis was saying to him: ما نَهاکُما رَبُّکُما عَنْ هذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَنْ تَکُونا مَلَکَیْنِ أَوْ تَکُونا مِنَ الْخالِدِینَ [Your Lord has not forbidden you this tree except that you would become angels or become of the immortals] — that is, if you eat of it you will become angels, or you will remain eternally [in Paradise]! (al-A'raf/20)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Man has been called insan (human) because he is forgetful, and Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: وَ لَقَدْ عَهِدْنا إِلی آدم مِنْ قَبْلُ فَنَسِیَ [And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Truthfulness is a light that gives brightness only within its own world; like the sun, from whose light all things benefit and take equally. The true truthful one is he who supposes every liar to be truthful, because of the truthfulness that is in himself — like Adam (peace be upon him), to whom Iblis lied while knowing himself that he was lying, when he swore falsely; and since falsehood did not exist in Adam's (peace be upon him) nature, he accepted his word. For this reason Allah has said in the Quran: وَ لَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْماً [and We did not find in him any determination]. Iblis was the first who brought falsehood into being, and before him no falsehood existed, neither outwardly nor inwardly. So Satan suffered loss through his lying, and no benefit ever came to him from the truthfulness and sincerity of Adam (peace be upon him); but Adam (peace be upon him), because he supposed his lie to be true, Allah bore witness to his truthfulness, and nothing was diminished from his rank, and Satan's lie subtracted nothing from him.

Imam al-Hadi (peace be upon him): Musa ibn Muhammad said: I met Yahya ibn Aktham ... so I went to my brother Ali ibn Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said: "May I be your ransom! Yahya ibn Aktham has asked me several questions and written to me to give him the answers. Concerning this verse: 'And in it (Paradise) is whatever the hearts desire and the eyes delight in' (al-Zukhruf/71), he asks: so [on the basis of this verse] Adam (peace be upon him) too had a craving in his heart to eat the wheat and he ate it [and in it is whatever the heart desires] — with this being so, how and why was he punished?!" The Imam said: "As for Paradise, without doubt every food, drink and amusement that the heart could desire and the eye take delight in is there, and Allah had made all of that permissible for Adam (peace be upon him). And the tree which Allah had forbidden Adam (peace be upon him) and his wife from was the tree of envy, and He enjoined the two of them not to look with the eye of envy upon those to whom Allah had granted a merit over the rest of His creatures. But Adam forgot, and he looked upon it with the eye of envy, and He did not find in him any firm determination or resolve."