And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He presented them to the angels and said: ‘Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true.’ ❋ They replied: ‘Limitless You are in Your glory! No knowledge have we save that which You have taught us. Verily, You alone are all‑knowing, truly wise.’ ❋ Said He: ‘O Adam, convey unto them the names of these [things].’ And as soon as [Adam] had conveyed unto them their names, [Allah] said: ‘Did I not say unto you: Verily, I alone know the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth, and know all that you bring into the open and all that you would conceal?’ (Wa ‘allama Ādam al‑asmā’ kullahā thumma ‘araḍahum ‘alā al-malā’ika fa-qāla anbi’unī bi-asmā’i hā’ulā’i in kuntum ṣādiqīn. ❋ Qālū subḥānaka lā ‘ilma la-nā illā mā ‘allamtanā innaka anta al-‘alīm al-ḥakīm. ❋ Qāla yā Ādam anbi’hum bi-asmā’ihim fa-lammā anba’ahum bi-asmā’ihim qāla a lam aqul la-kum innī a‘lamu ghayb al-samāwāt wa’l-arḍ wa a‘lamu mā tubdūna wa mā kuntum taktumūn?)
An Introduction
Consider this: This miracle of Adam [the teaching of the names] challenged the angels [and their doubts]; indeed, it was a miracle of mankind related to the question of the vicegerency. There are many lessons to be learnt from the story.
Bearing in mind the verse: Nor anything fresh or dry but is [inscribed] in a Record Clear, and supported by the facts that the Qur’an both offers you clear statements and evidences, and teaches you through signs and indications, I understand from the masterly signs and indications of the Qur’an’s miraculousness in the stories of the prophets and their miracles,
That it is encouraging mankind to attain similar achievements. It is as though with these stories, the Qur’an is pointing the finger at the main lines and final results in the future of mankind’s efforts to progress, for the future is built on the foundations of the past, while the past is the mirror of the future. And it is as though the Qur’an is slapping humanity on the back urging and encouraging men, saying: “Exert yourselves to the utmost [and discover] the means to achieve some of these wonders!”
You surely know that it was the hand of miracles that first gave mankind the clock and the ship.
If you wish, consider now the verses: And He taught Adam all of the names. Now dwell on what combined human thought has produced and the thousands of rational sciences it has deduced: each of them [is related to] one of the species [realms of being] in the universe, so that mankind has come to manifest And He taught Adam all of the names.
Now ponder over the railway and telegraph and other wonders of art deduced by human thought and by means of smelting iron and forging copper, so that man came to manifest and We softened iron for him, and this became the basis of his industries.
Think also about the aeroplanes that human minds incubated and hatched, which travel a month’s journey in a day, so that humankind would come to manifest: its morning course [covered the distance of] a month’s journey, and its evening course, a month’s journey.
And reflect on the progress achieved in tools invented through human enterprise, staffs to strike arid deserts, causing copious springs to gush forth and transforming the sandy wastes into gardens, so that man is on the point of manifesting Strike the rock with thy staff!
Now ponder over the wonders of medicine yielded by man’s experiments that are beginning to heal those born blind and the lepers and the chronically sick, by Allah’s leave –
you will see that [between the above verses and the future scientific discoveries] is a full correspondence and you will be right to say that [those miracles] are the criteria and measure [of those future discoveries], and that the miracles point to them and urge [mankind to work to achieve] them.
Similarly, consider such verses as: We said: ‘O fire! Be cool, and [a means of] safety (for Abraham).
Had he not seen an evidence of His Lord. That is, according to one narration, had he not had a vision of Jacob biting his finger.
I do indeed scent the presence of Joseph. I will bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye.
(O you people!) We have been taught the speech of birds. Now consider mankind’s discovery of the degree of heat that does not burn and non‑inflammable materials; and the invention of means of attracting images and sounds from far off and bringing them to you before you can blink your eye; and ‘speaking’ machines [such as the radio]; and the employment of some species of birds like the pigeon and so on.
You may see the agreement and congruity between these two sorts [of wonders], and may rightly say that [the verses] signify and allude to [the future discoveries].
[Like the previous verses] these verses have three aspects related to their positioning and composition.
First Aspect
The positioning of the [first] verse in relation to the preceding one has four aspects:
The First: When the Qur’an explains the wisdom in man’s vicegerency in the previous verse it is the first part of the answer, and is more general [addressing] everyone, and the easiest and most convincing, and the most brief and concise. Then with this verse it gives an explanatory, detailed answer satisfying to both ordinary people and the elite.
The Second: Having made an explicit statement about man’s vicegerency in the previous verse, with this one it proves the question with the miracle of mankind in the face of the angels.
The Third: The previous verse having indicated mankind’s superiority over the angels, this verse alludes to the cause of its superiority.
The Fourth: Having hinted with the previous verse at humankind’s receiving the supreme vicegerency of the earth, with this one it allusively advances arguments to support it. For by virtue of the diversity of man’s abilities and the multiplicity of ways in which he can utilize things and the many sides to his knowledge, and his encompassing the universe with his five senses, external and inner, and especially with his boundless conscience, he is a comprehensive copy [of the world] and locus of all the manifestations [of the divine names]. You can see that contrary to the angels, he can relish the taste of things like honey in two ways or even more! So ponder over this!
Second Aspect
The positioning of the verses’ phrases is naturally smooth and fluent to the utmost degree:
The first [phrase And He taught Adam the names (of all things)]; verifies (taḥqīq) the meaning of [the last phrase of the previous verse]: I know what you know not, and elaborates what it states summarily and expounds its obscurities.
Moreover, [the function of] the Most High’s vicegerent on the earth is to execute His ordinances and apply His laws, and this is dependent on full knowledge.
So too, the thread and drift of the previous verse implies these [unstated words]: “So He created him and ordered his being, and breathed His spirit into him and raised him, then He taught him the names and prepared him for the vicegerency.” Then, since [the Most High] had chosen [Adam] over and above the angels and distinguished him [by conferring on him] knowledge of the names, [and had made clear] in this question of his superiority his worthiness of the vicegerency, the context being one of challenge, He presented the things to [the angels] seeking their objections. So perceiving their impotence, they affirmed the Most High’s wisdom and were assured. For this reason the Qur’an says: Then He presented them to the angels and said: ‘Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true.’
They said (Qālū): that is, they declared themselves innocent of what in his egotism Iblis had insinuated into their questioning, saying: Limitless are You in Your glory! No knowledge have we save that which You have taught us. Verily, You alone are all‑knowing, truly wise.
Then, once their impotence, arising from their lack of comprehensive abilities, had become clear, the context necessitated a statement of Adam’s competence, in order to complete the challenge. So it says: Said He: O Adam, convey unto them the names of these [things].
Then, when the underlying reason and wisdom had become exemplified and apparent in Adam, the context (al‑maqām) necessitated the former concise reply, making it a sort of consequence of the detailed explanation here. So [the Qur’an] says: Did I not say unto you: Verily, I alone know the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth, and know all that you bring into the open and all that you would conceal?
This use of conversation divulges and intimates that Iblis’ egotism had spread among the angels, and that the objections of one group [of devils] intervened in their questioning.
Third Aspect
The positioning of the parts of the phrases
The phrase And He taught Adam the names of all things (Wa ‘allama Ādam al‑asmā’ kullahā): That is, [the Most High] fashioned [Adam] with a nature in which were contained the fundamental principles of all types of attainment and perfection, and He created him with a disposition in which were planted the seeds of all elevated qualities, and He decked him out with ten senses, and a conscience that would hold the similitudes of all beings. He prepared him [by giving him] these three faculties that He might teach him the realities of things in all their variety. Then He taught him all the names. The [conjunction] And implies the above phrases, ‘rolled up’ beneath the conciseness (ījāz).
He taught (‘Allama) allusively praises knowledge and indicates its high degree and that it is the pivot of the vicegerency.
It is a sign too that the names [of things] are made known by Allah. This is corroborated by the relationships mostly obtaining between names and the things they signify.
It suggests too that miracles are an act of Allah without intermediary, contrarily to [the claim] of the philosophers that wonders are the acts of wondrous spirits.
Adam; that is, the earthling whose vicegerency was willed by Allah the Most High and who was given the name of Adam by Him. The specific mention of the name is to applaud and proclaim it and to associate it with him.
The names (al‑asmā’): The attributes, characteristics, and appellations that signify things, or the [myriad] languages [or words and terms – al‑lughāt] that the sons of Adam use (lit. have divided among themselves).
Also, as indicated by presented them (‘araḍahum), it suggests that the names are identical to what they signify, as is claimed by the Sunnis.
All of them (kullahā) is a clear statement of the source of [Adam’s] distinction [vis‑à-vis the angels] and of the miracle [of the names]. [That is, while man may acquire complete knowledge of the names, the angels’ knowledge is partial.]
The phrases: Then He presented them to the angels and said: ‘Declare unto Me the names of these [things], if what you say is true.’ (Thumma ‘araḍahum ‘alā al‑malā’ika fa-qāla anbi’unī bi-asmā’i hā’ulā’i in kuntum ṣādiqīn.)
Then (thumma): By reason of the interval (al‑tarākhī) indicated here, and as necessitated by the context (al‑maqām), this implies [the unstated words]: “And [Allah] said: He is nobler than you and more worthy of the vicegerency.”
He presented them (‘araḍahum): that is, as though offered for sale. He set out for their inspection things of all sorts, as though presenting wares to customers or parading the ranks before the commander. In this is an indication that for intelligent beings things are goods they may buy through knowledge, and take possession of through naming them (lit. their names), and appropriate through representing their forms.
The [pronominal suffix] ‑hum – them is used for masculine rational beings so expounds the two things that render beings superior to others (taghlīb) [that is, masculinity and reason] and the trope (majāz) hinted at by the word He presented (‘araḍa). For one imagines from [Allah] despatching the varieties of beings which parade rank upon rank for inspection, that they are regiments (lit. tribes) of [masculine] intelligent beings advancing towards [the angels].
To (‘alā) hints that what is presented to [the angels] are the forms [of things] inscribed on the Sublime Tablet.
Glory be unto to You, we have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All‑Knowing, All-Wise.
And the close of their cry will be: All praise be to Allah, the Lord and Sustainer of all the worlds!