A Discussion of the Narrations

How Adam (a.s.) Repented and Received the Divine Words

One narration regarding the verse: “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words” (2:37) states: There is no god but You, glory be to You and praise be to You. I have done evil and wronged myself, so forgive me and have mercy on me, for You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. There is no god but You, glory be to You, O God, and praise be to You. I have done evil and wronged myself, so turn to me in repentance, for You are the Oft-Returning, the Merciful.(211)

According to al-Ṣādiq (a.s.): When Adam (a.s.) sinned, his repentance was expressed by saying: “O God, I ask You by the right of Muḥammad and the family of Muḥammad, forgive me.” Consequently, God forgave him...(212)

Another narration from Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.) states: Adam and Eve wished for the status of the Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.). When God Almighty wanted to accept their repentance, Gabriel came to them and said: “You have only wronged yourselves by wishing for the status of those who have been favored over you. Your recompense is that you have been sent down from the vicinity of God Almighty to His earth. So ask your Lord by the right of the names that you saw on the Throne’s leg, so that He may accept your repentance.” They said: “O God, we ask You by the right of the most honored before You: Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, and the Imams (a.s.), accept our repentance and have mercy on us.” So God accepted their repentance, indeed He is the Oft-Returning, the Merciful.(213)

From Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar, from al-Ṣādiq (a.s.): I asked him about the saying of the Exalted: “And when Abraham was tried by his Lord with words and he fulfilled them” (2:124). What are these words? He (a.s.) said: They are the words that Adam received from his Lord, so He turned to him in repentance, and it is that he said: “O Lord, I ask You by the right of Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn, accept my repentance.” So God accepted his repentance, indeed He is the Oft-Returning, the Merciful.(214)

From the Prophet (s.a.w.): … As for the sunset prayer, it is the hour in which God Almighty forgave Adam. Between when he ate from the tree and when God forgave him was three hundred years of the days of this world, and in the days of the Hereafter, a day is like a thousand years, between the afternoon and evening. So Adam prayed three rakʿāt: one rakʿa for his error, one rakʿa for the error of Eve, and one rakʿa for his repentance. So God Almighty obligated these three rakʿāt upon my nation, and it is the hour in which supplication is answered. My Lord Almighty promised me that He would answer whoever supplicates to Him in it.(215)

From Abū Jaʿfar (a.s.): The words that Adam received from his Lord, so He turned to him and guided him, were: “Glory be to You, O God, and by Your praise. I have done evil and wronged myself, so forgive me, for You are the Best of Forgivers. O God, there is no god but You. Glory be to You and by Your praise. I have done evil and wronged myself, so forgive me, for You are the Forgiving, the Merciful.”(216)

From al-Ṣādiq (a.s.): … When he repented to God from his envy and acknowledged the wilāya and supplicated by the right of the five: Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn, God forgave him. That is His saying: “Then Adam received from his Lord [certain] words.”(217)

From ʿAlī (a.s.): The words that Adam received from his Lord, he said: “O Lord! I ask You by the right of Muḥammad to turn to me.” He said: “And what do you know of Muḥammad?” He said: “I saw him written in Your greatest pavilion when I was in Paradise.”(218)

From Ibn ʿAbbās: I asked the Prophet (s.a.w.) about the words that Adam received from his Lord, so He turned to him. He (s.a.w.) said: “He asked Him by the right of Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn to turn to him. So He turned to him.”(219)

Regarding His saying, “Then Adam received from his Lord [certain] words”… He said: “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”(220)

From the Messenger of God (s.a.w.): When God sent Adam down to the earth, He commanded him to till the land with his hands and eat from his toil after Paradise and its blessings. He remained lamenting and weeping over Paradise for two hundred years. Then he prostrated to God in a prostration and did not raise his head for three days and nights. Then he said: “O my Lord, did You not create me?” God said: “I have done so.” He said: “Did You not breathe into me of Your spirit?” He said: “I have done so.” He said: “Did You not settle me in Your Paradise?” He said: “I have done so.” He said: “Did not Your mercy precede Your wrath for me?” God said: “I have done so. So have you been patient or grateful?” Adam said: “There is no god but You. Glory be to You. I have wronged myself, so forgive me. You are indeed the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.” So God had mercy on him for that and turned to him in forgiveness. He is indeed the Oft-Returning, the All-Merciful.(221)

From Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.): The great weepers are five: Adam, Jacob, Joseph, Fāṭima the daughter of Muḥammad (s.a.w.), and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn (a.s.). As for Adam, he wept over Paradise until there were in his cheeks the likes of valleys…(222)

From al-Bāqir (a.s.): …He remained lamenting (raising his voice in supplication) and weeping over Paradise for two hundred years. Then he prostrated to God in a prostration and did not raise his head for three days and nights…(223)

From al-Ṣādiq (a.s.): …Adam remained prostrating and weeping over Paradise for forty mornings. Then Gabriel descended…(224)

Ibn Isḥāq said to Ibn ʿAbbās: What are the words that Adam received from his Lord? He said: He taught him the matter of the Hajj, and these are the words.(225)

From Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.): God, blessed and exalted is He, presented Adam’s progeny to him in the covenant. The Prophet (s.a.w.) passed by him while he was leaning on ʿAlī (a.s.), and Fāṭima (a.s.) was following them, and al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn (a.s.) were following Fāṭima. God said: “O Adam! Beware of looking at them with envy lest I bring you down from My vicinity.” When God settled him in Paradise, the Prophet, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn (God’s blessings be upon them) were represented to him. He looked at them with envy, then the wilāya was presented to him but he denied it, so Paradise pelted him with its leaves. When he repented to God for his envy and acknowledged the wilāya and supplicated by the right of the five: Muḥammad, ʿAlī, Fāṭima, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn (God’s blessings be upon them), God forgave him, and that is His saying, “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words….”(226)

Note: Apart from the weakness of the chains of the aforementioned ḥadīth__s due to their being mursal and other reasons, some points can be made about them:

a) The supplication, seeking means (tawassul), and seeking intercession (istishfāʿ) of Adam and Eve (a.s.) occurred before the descent to earth, and any supplication and seeking of means that occurred after the descent does not contradict what happened before. However, the original reception of the words and the supplication and seeking means through them occurred previously.

b) As mentioned in the course of the subtleties and allusions, none of these ḥadīths are evidence for the words being limited to their contents such that each one negates the other. Therefore, accepting all of them is possible without any problem.

c) Adam’s knowledge of the infallible and pure Ahl al-Bayt (a.s.) at the stage of the covenant being taken from the descendants and their representation to Adam in Paradise, along with witnessing the names of those luminous beings on the Throne of God, are not contradictory, although the incident of the blameworthy envy requires an explanation, which was presented earlier.

d) The incident of representation, which is one of the key discussions of Qur’anic teachings, is a guide for understanding some of the secrets of the unseen realm, and it is necessary to make use of it in appropriate instances.