فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ لِيُبْدِىَ لَهُمَا مَا وُۥرِىَ عَنْهُمَا مِن سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا وَقَالَ مَا نَهَىٰكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلْخَٰلِدِينَ
2:37; 20:121.
Important Words:
وسوس (whispered evil suggestions) literally means, he spoke in a low voice; he whispered. They say وسوس له الشیطان i.e. Satan spoke to him something evil in which there is no good. وسوس الرجل means, the man’s reason was affected and he spoke in a disorderly manner. وسواس (wiswas) means, the act of whispering; evil suggestion. وسواس (waswas) with different vowel point means melancholia; Satan (Aqrab).
سوآتھما (their shame). سوآت is the plural of سوءة which is derived from ساء which means, it was or became evil, foul or abominable. سوءة means, any evil, foul, unseemly or abominable saying or action or habit or practice; any saying or action of which one is ashamed when it appears, and which one would like to hide; any disgracing action or thing; the external portion of the organs of generation of a man or of a woman; the anus; corpse or dead body; nakedness (Lane & Aqrab). The word is also sometimes figuratively applied to such weaknesses of a man as lie concealed within him.
Commentary:
As the place where Adam was made to reside has been metaphorically described in the Quran as a garden, therefore in the description that follows the metaphor is continued and Adam is represented as forbidden to approach a certain 'tree', which was not a tree in its literal sense but a certain family or tribe from which he was bidden to keep aloof, because the members of that family were his enemies and they would have spared no pains to do him harm. For the meaning of the word شجرة (tree) see 2:36.
Another reading of the word ملکین (malakain), i.e. two angels, is (malikain) ملکین i.e. two kings or rulers. This reading is corroborated by 20:121, i.e. Shall I lead thee to the tree of eternity, and to a kingdom which shall never become decayed.
The wicked man who is here represented as Satan worked his mischievous plan as follows: He came to Adam and said that the reason why God had forbidden him to have anything to do with the family referred to was none other than this that its members were inimically disposed to him and that they would have conspired to bring about his downfall, if he had then contracted intimate relations with them. But as the family had subsequently become friendly towards him, the danger no longer existed; nay, the family would now even prove a source of strength for him, God’s prohibition, he pleaded, was not meant for all time, and the condition attached to it having come to an end, the prohibition also ceased to operate. In this way, this Satan succeeded in deceiving Adam and he assured him on oath that he was his well-wisher (7:22). Adam wavered and was led into thinking that as the reasons for the prohibition had indeed ceased to exist, the prohibition itself was no longer operative. That was an error of judgement on Adam’s part. He did not wilfully disobey God’s commandment. Elsewhere the Quran says, He (Adam) forgot to observe Our commandment and We found in him no determination to do evil (20:116).
2:37; 20:121.
While evil thoughts ultimately lead a person to his ruin, they also make manifest to him his weaknesses.
As the place where Adam was made to reside has been metaphorically described in the Qur’an as a "Garden", therefore in the description that follows the metaphor is continued and Adam is represented as having been forbidden to approach a certain 'tree' which was not a tree in its literal and physical sense, but a certain family or tribe from which he was bidden to keep aloof, because the members of that family were his enemies and they would have spared no pains to do him harm.