Quran 7:11 — Surah Al-A'raaf Ayah 11 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّٰكُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَجَعَلْنَا ل...

7:11

Al-A'raaf

قَالَ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَلَّا تَسْجُدَ إِذْ أَمَرْتُكَ...

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَٰكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِءَادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ لَمْ يَكُن مِّنَ ٱلسَّٰجِدِينَ

Wa laqad khalaqnaakum summa sawwarnaakum summa qulnaa lilmalaaa'ikatis judoo li Aadama fa-sajadooo illaaa Ibleesa lam yakum minas saajideen

And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated.

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

Prostration of the Angels to Adam and Shaytan's Arrogance

Allah informs the Children of Adam about the honor of their father and the enmity of Shaytan, who still has envy for them and for their father Adam. So they should beware of him and not follow in his footsteps. Allah said,

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَـكُمْ ثُمَّ صَوَّرْنَـكُمْ ثُمَّ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ اسْجُدُواْ لأَدَمَ فَسَجَدُواْ

(And surely, We created you and then gave you shape; then We told the angels, "Prostrate yourselves to Adam," and they prostrated,) This is like His saying,

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ إِنِّى خَـلِقٌ بَشَرًا مِّن صَلْصَـلٍ مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ - فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى فَقَعُواْ لَهُ سَـجِدِينَ

(And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "I am going to create a man from dried (sounding) clay of altered mud. So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him the soul (which I created for him), then fall (you) down prostrating yourselves unto him.") 15:28-29. After Allah created Adam with His Hands from dried clay of altered mud and made him in the shape of a human being, He blew life into him and ordered the angels to prostrate before him, honoring Allah's glory and magnificence. The angels all heard, obeyed and prostrated, but Iblis did not prostrate. We explained this subject in the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah. Therefore, the Ayah (7:11) refers to Adam, although Allah used the plural in this case, because Adam is the father of all mankind. Similarly, Allah said to the Children of Israel who lived during the time of the Prophet ,

وَظَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْغَمَامَ وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى

(And We shaded you with clouds and sent down on you manna and the quail,)2:57 This refers to their forefathers who lived during the time of Moses. But, since that was a favor given to the forefathers, and they are their very source, then the offspring have also been favored by it. This is not the case in:

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِن سُلَـلَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ

(And indeed We created man out of an extract of clay (water and earth.))23:12 For this merely means that Adam was created from clay. His children were created from Nutfah (mixed male and female sexual discharge). This last Ayah is thus talking about the origin of mankind, not that they were all created from clay, and Allah knows best.

View Full Tafsir: Prostration of the Angels to Adam and Shaytan's ArroganceAyahs 11–11

Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, created Adam in His image with His length of sixty cubits, and as He created him He told him to greet that group, and that was a party of angels sitting there, and listen to the response that they give him, for it would form his greeting and that of his offspring. He then went away and said: Peace be upon you! They (the angels) said: May there be peace upon you and the Mercy of Allah, and they made an addition of" Mercy of Allah". So he who would get into Paradise would get in the form of Adam, his length being sixty cubits, then the people who followed him continued to diminish in size up to this day.

Sahih Muslim #6486Anas reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:

When Allah fashioned Adam in Paradise, He left him as He liked him to leave. Then Iblis roamed round him to see what actually that was and when he found him hollow from within, he recognised that he had been created with a disposition that he would not have control over himself.

Sahih Muslim #7310'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:

The Angels were born out of light and the Jinns were born out of the spark of fire and Adam was born as he has been defined (in the Qur'an) for you (i. e. he is fashioned out of clay).

Sahih al-Bukhari #3188Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika wa Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation.

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3452Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:

“When Allah created Adam, He breathed the soul into him, then he sneezed and said: ‘All praise is due to Allah.’ So he praised Allah by His permission. Then His Lord said to him: ‘May Allah have mercy upon you O Adam. Go to those angels – to that gathering of them sitting – so say: 'As-Salamu alaikum.' They said 'Wa Alaikas-Salamu Wa Rahmatullah’. Then he returned to his Lord, He said: ‘This is your greeting and the greeting of your children among each other.’ Then Allah said to him – while His Two Hands were closed – ‘Choose which of them you wish.’ He said: ‘I chose the right My Lord and both of the Hands of my Lord are right, blessed.’ Then He extended it, and there was Adam and his offspring in it.’ So he said: ‘What are these O my Lord?’ He said: ‘These are your offspring?’ Each one of them had his age written between his eyes. But among them there was a man who was the most illuminating of them – or among the most illuminated of them. He said: ‘O Lord! Who is this?’ He said: ‘This is your son Dawud, I wrote forty years for him.’ He said: ‘O Lord! Add to his age.’ He said: ‘That is what I have written for him.’ He said: ‘O Lord! Give him sixty of my years.’ He said: ‘So you shall have it.’” He said: “Then, he resided in Paradise as long as Allah willed, then he was cast from it, so Adam was counting for himself.” He said: “So the Angel of death came to him, and Adam said to him: ‘You are hasty, one-thousand years were written for me.’ He said: ‘Of course! But you gave sixty years to your son Dawud.’ So he rejected, and his offspring rejected, and he forgot, and his offspring forgot.” He said: “So ever since that day, what is written and witnessed has been decreed.”