The Harmony of the Verses

To clarify the matters of the verse and address the perceived inconsistency with the verse in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf, attention to the following points is necessary:

Firstly, the words that Adam (a.s.) received are not explicitly explained in the Noble Qur’an. The phrase mentioned in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf—“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” (7:23)—can be considered as one example of these words, not their entirety. Therefore, the words Adam received are not limited to this sentence.

Secondly, the received words played a crucial role in Adam’s repentance. The apparent meaning of the verse under discussion suggests that God’s repentance towards Adam was linked with the reception of these words. In Sūrah al-Aʿrāf, the words express the repentance of Adam and Eve, and God does not reject their repentance; rather, He praises Himself with the attributes of al-Tawwāb (the Oft-Returning) and al-Raḥīm (the Most Merciful), affirming their acceptance as mentioned later in Sūrah al-Baqarah.

Thirdly, the reception of the words, in harmony with repentance and its acceptance, occurred before Adam’s descent to the earth. As previously revealed in Mecca in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf, the command to descend came after Adam sought mercy. In Medina’s Sūrah al-Baqarah, it is indicated that Adam received these words along with the hope-inspiring attributes of al-Tawwāb and al-Raḥīm before complying with the command to descend. Though verse 36 of Sūrah al-Baqarah issues the initial command to descend, verse 37 discusses the reception of the words and repentance, followed by verse 38’s final command to descend, which was subsequently carried out.

Therefore, the entire process of receiving the words and divine repentance should be seen as occurring before the descent, aligning with that higher realm rather than being subject to the earthly conditions and laws of this world. Whether these words were received by both Adam and Eve or specifically by Adam alone was discussed previously.

Fourthly, the esteemed scholar ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (may his soul be sanctified) suggested that the words received by Adam in the verse under discussion could be the same as those spoken by Adam and Eve in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf. However, the sequence—where the words “They said, ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves…’” (7:23) occur before the command to descend in Sūrah al-Aʿrāf and the reception of words after the command in Sūrah al-Baqarah—challenges this interpretation. By examining the harmony between the two chapters, where the final command to descend follows the narration of receiving the words and speaking the specific supplication, it appears reasonable to consider a potential unity between these instances, albeit not with absolute certainty.