Taha · Makki · ayah 117 of 135

Taha 20:117

فَقُلْنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ إِنَّ هَـٰذَا عَدُوٌّ لَّكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلَا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ فَتَشْقَىٰٓ

“So We said, "O Adam, indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you from Paradise so you would suffer.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Before the test, the enemy was named and his tell shown, and the cost of listening to him was given in one word: toil.

A reflection

‘This one’: the enemy named before the battle

Fa-qulnā: so We said. The 'so' links this warning directly to the refusal before it. One commentary paraphrases the pointing word hādhā as: this one, whose behaviour you have just seen. Another commentary adds that it was from his hatred that he would not bow to you.

So Adam was not given an abstract warning about evil in general. He was shown a specific enemy, at the moment that enemy revealed himself, with the evidence still fresh.

Picture a teenager on her first Saturday working in a busy newsagent. Before she has even taken her coat off, the owner shows her two printed CCTV stills by the till. This man comes in around four. He always asks for something from the top shelf so you turn round. This one, remember his face. She does. At ten past four, he walks in.

That is what good briefing looks like: name the threat, show its signature, and do it before the shift starts. The root of ʿaduww, enemy, sharpens the picture. The lexicons say it means going beyond the limit one should keep to: a horse running flat out past every marker, aggression that oversteps. An enemy is the one who will not stay on his side of the line.

There is a strategic lesson for any leader here. Vague warnings do not protect anyone. 'Be careful out there' is useless. 'This one, who did that, wants this from you' is a shield.

And there is a lesson for the believer. Allah did not leave the enemy anonymous. In the Quran Satan is named, his methods are described, his promises are quoted. You were briefed before the shift. The question is whether you remember the face when he walks in at ten past four.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.