Comprehensive and Detailed Teaching of Names to Adam (a.s.)

It can be inferred from the reception of the words in the verse that Adam (a.s.) consciously and eagerly approached to receive the divine words and knowledge as an act of obedience, seeking to be included in God’s grace—and so it happened. He embraced the mentioned words, and divine grace hastened to meet him. Adam then wholeheartedly called upon his Lord through those words.

God accepted his repentance, encompassing him in His kindness and forgiveness.

One might ask: Were not all the names and words already taught to Adam (a.s.) during the initial teaching of the names? Was there anything left that this perfect human had not learned?

The possible answer is that the knowledge imparted to Adam (a.s.) in the teaching of the names was comprehensive, while the reception of the words in this context signifies a detailed learning of that comprehensive knowledge or perhaps a detailed understanding of a specific aspect of it. It is similar to when God Almighty, through a special grace, grants someone the faculty of ijtihād (independent reasoning) and then, in response to specific circumstances, reveals to them the detailed answers, enhancing their understanding.