فَأَزَلَّهُمَا ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ عَنۡهَا فَأَخۡرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِۖ وَقُلۡنَا ٱهۡبِطُواْ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوّٞۖ وَلَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مُسۡتَقَرّٞ وَمَتَٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٖ
Then Satan caused them to stumble from it, and he dislodged them from what [state] they were in; and We said, ‘Get down, being enemies of one another! On the earth shall be your abode and sustenance for a time.’
Agha Ali Puya Commentary
Commentary on Quran 2:36
[Pooya/Ali Commentary 2:36] Adam was endowed with infinite potentiality to reach the ultimate through rational thinking and be able to discriminate and choose. Shaytan, the furious and the fiery, obstinate and perverse, devoid of iman, became an enemy of Adam. The stimulating warning of the divine command "not to go near the tree" awakened Adam's latent ambition to march unto those "highest beings" whose status Allah had shown him. To begin this journey, Adam, in a way, apparently gave Shaytan the opportunity to use his guile and rebellious energy in order to take advantage of the situation and get even with his adversary who caused his downfall. Adam and Hawwa slipped out of the condition of peace and contentment into the realm of struggle where peace and conflict, love and hate, and such opposites are at full play. Thereafter the two opposite groups faced each other. It was a conflict between good and evil, right and wrong. Ihbitu, also used in verse 61 of al Baqarah, means a change from the easy life of joy and happiness to the life of toil, suffering and misery. (see commentary for verse 4)