Surah Al-Baqarah >> Currently viewing Surah Baqarah Ayat 35 (2:35)

Surah Baqarah Ayat 35 in Arabic Text

وَقُلۡنَا يَـٰٓـَٔادَمُ ٱسۡكُنۡ أَنتَ وَزَوۡجُكَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ وَكُلَا مِنۡهَا رَغَدًا حَيۡثُ شِئۡتُمَا وَلَا تَقۡرَبَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
Wa qulnaa yaaa Aadamus kun anta wa zawjukal jannata wa kulaa minhaa raghadan haisu shi’tumaa wa laa taqrabaa haazihish shajarata fatakoonaa minaz zaalimeen

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 35

Sahih International
And We said, “O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers.”

Yusuf Ali
“We said: “O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression.”

Abul Ala Maududi
Then We said, “O Adam, you and your wife, both dwell in the Garden and eat to your hearts’ content where from you will, but do not go near this tree; otherwise you shall become transgressors”

Muhsin Khan
And We said: “O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimun (wrong-doers).”

Pickthall
And We said: O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and eat ye freely (of the fruits) thereof where ye will; but come not nigh this tree lest ye become wrong-doers.

Dr. Ghali
And We said, “O Adam, dwell, you and your spouse in the Garden, and eat (Both of you) thereof opulently where you decide to, and (both of) you should not draw near this tree, (or) then you (both) would be of the unjust.”

Abdel Haleem
We said, ‘Adam, live with your wife in this garden. Both of you eat freely there as you will, but do not go near this tree, or you will both become wrongdoers.’

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور ہم نے کہہ دیا کہ اے آدم! تم اور تمہاری بیوی جنت میں رہو اور جہاں کہیں سے چاہو بافراغت کھاؤ پیو، لیکن اس درخت کے قریب بھی نہ جانا ورنہ ﻇالم ہوجاؤ گے

Quran 2 Verse 35 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Baqarah ayat 35, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(2:35) And We said: “O Adam, live in the Garden, you and your wife, and eat abundantly of whatever you wish but do not approach this tree[48] or else you will be counted among the wrong-doers.”[49]


48. This indicates that before man was sent to earth Moreover, for this kind of test Paradise was the best possible place. What God wanted to impress on man was that the only place that befits man’s station is Paradise, and that if man turns from the course of obedience to God as a result of Satanic allurements, he will remain deprived of it in the Next Life even as he was deprived of it once before. The only way he can recover his true status and reclaim the lost Paradise is by resisting effectively the enemy who is always trying to drive him off the course of obedience to God.

49. The use of the word ‘wrong-doer’ is highly significant. ‘Wrong-doing’ consists in withholding someone’s rights and the wrong-doer is one who withholds those rights from their legitimate claimants. Anyone who disobeys God withholds three major rights. The first is what is due to God, for He has the right to be obeyed. Second, there are the rights of all those things which a man employs in disobeying God. The parts of his body, his mental energy, his fellow-beings, those angels who, under Divine dispensation, have been appointed to enable him to achieve his aims. both righteous and unrighteous, the material objects which he employs in his acts of disobedience – all these have a rightful claim upon him to be used in ways that please God. But when he uses them in ways which displease God he commits wrong against them all. Third, he wrongs his own self which has the right to be saved from perdition. By inviting punishment from God because of his disobedience he wrongs his own self as well. It is for these reasons that the word ‘wrong’ is often used in the Qur’an for sin, and the word wrong-doer’ for sinner

Ibn-Kathir

35. And We said: “O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimin (wrongdoers). ” 36. Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom (the Paradise), and got them out from that in which they were. We said: “Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.”


Adam was honored again

Allah honored Adam by commanding the angels to prostrate before him, so they all complied except for Iblis. Allah then allowed Adam to live and eat wherever and whatever he wished in Paradise. Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr bin Marduwyah reported Abu Dharr saying, “I said, `O Messenger of Allah! Was Adam a Prophet’ He said,

«نَعَمْ نَبِيًّا رَسُولًا كَلَّمَهُ اللَّهُ قُبُلًا»

(Yes. He was a Prophet and a Messenger to whom Allah spoke directly), meaning

﴿اسْكُنْ أَنتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ﴾

((O Adam!) Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise.)”

Hawwa’ was created before Adam entered Paradise

The Ayah (2:35) indicates that Hawwa’ was created before Adam entered Paradise, as Muhammad bin Ishaq stated. Ibn Ishaq said, “After Allah finished criticizing Iblis, and after teaching Adam the names of everything, He said,

﴿يَـاءَادَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَآئِهِمْ﴾

(O Adam! Inform them of their names) until,

﴿إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ﴾

(Verily, You are the Knower, the Wise.)

Then Adam fell asleep, as the People of the Book and other scholars such as Ibn `Abbas have stated, Allah took one of Adam’s left ribs and made flesh grow in its place, while Adam was asleep and unaware. Allah then created Adam’s wife, Hawwa’, from his rib and made her a woman, so that she could be a comfort for him. When Adam woke up and saw Hawwa’ next to him, it was claimed, he said, `My flesh and blood, my wife.’ Hence, Adam reclined with Hawwa’. When Allah married Adam to Hawwa’ and gave him comfort, Allah said to him directly,

﴿يَاءَادَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلاَ مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلاَ تَقْرَبَا هَـذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الْظَّـلِمِينَ﴾

(“O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimin (wrongdoers).”).”

Allah tests Adam

Allah’s statement to Adam,

﴿وَلاَ تَقْرَبَا هَـذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ﴾

(but come not near this tree) is a test for Adam. There are conflicting opinions over the nature of the tree mentioned here. Some said that it was the grape tree, barley, date tree, fig tree, and so forth. Some said that it was a certain tree, and whoever eats from it will be relieved of the call of nature. It was also said that it was a tree from which the angels eat so that they live for eternity. Imam Abu Ja`far bin Jarir said, “The correct opinion is that Allah forbade Adam and his wife from eating from a certain tree in Paradise, but they ate from it. We do not know which tree that was, because Allah has not mentioned anything in the Qur’an or the authentic Sunnah about the nature of this tree. It was said that it was barley, grape, or a fig tree. It is possible that it was one of those trees. Yet, this is knowledge that does not bring any benefit, just as being ignorant in its nature does no harm. Allah knows best.” This is similar to what Ar-Razi stated in his Tafsir, and this is the correct opinion. Allah’s statement,

﴿فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَـنُ عَنْهَا﴾

(Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom) either refers to Paradise, and in this case, it means that Shaytan led Adam and Hawwa’ away from it, as `Asim bin Abi An-Najud recited it. It is also possible that this Ayah refers to the forbidden tree. In this case, the Ayah would mean, as Al-Hasan and Qatadah stated, “He tripped them.” In this case,

﴿فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَـنُ عَنْهَا﴾

(Then the Shaytan made them slip therefrom)

means, “Because of the tree”, just as Allah said,

﴿يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ ﴾

(Turned aside therefrom (i.e. from Muhammad and the Qur’an) is he who is turned aside (by the decree and preordainment of Allah)) (51:9) meaning, the deviant person becomes turned aside – or slips – from the truth because of so and so reason. This is why then Allah said,

﴿فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ﴾

(And got them out from that in which they were) meaning, the clothes, spacious dwelling and comfortable sustenance.

﴿وَقُلْنَا اهْبِطُواْ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ وَلَكُمْ فِى الأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَـعٌ إِلَى حِينٍ﴾

(We said: “Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.”) meaning, dwelling, sustenance and limited life, until the commencement of the Day of Resurrection

Adam was very Tall

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ubayy bin Ka`b said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ خَلَقَ آدَمَ رَجُلًا طُوَالًا كَثِيرَ شَعْرِ الرَّأْسِ كَأَنَّهُ نَخْلَةٌ سَحُوقٌ، فَلَمَّا ذَاقَ الشَّجَرَةَ سَقَطَ عَنْهُ لِبَاسُهُ فَأَوَّلُ مَا بَدَا مِنْهُ عَوْرَتُهُ، فَلَمَّا نَظَرَ إلى عَوْرتِه جَعَلَ يَشْتَدُّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ فَأَخَذَتْ شَعْرَهُ شَجَرَةٌ فَنَازَعَهَا، فَنَادَاهُ الرَّحْمنُ: يَا آدَمُ مِنِّي تَفِرُّ؟ فَلَمَّا سَمِعَ كَلامَ الرَّحْمنِ قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ لَا ولَكِنِ اسْتِحْيَاء»

(Allah created Adam tall, with thick hair, just as a date tree with full branches. When Adam ate from the forbidden tree, his cover fell off, and the first thing that appeared was his private area. When he saw his private area, he ran away in Paradise and his hair got caught in a tree. He tried to free himself and Ar-Rahman called him, ‘O Adam! Are you running away from Me’ When Adam heard the words of Ar-Rahman (Allah), he said, ‘No, O my Lord! But I am shy.’)

Adam remained in Paradise for an Hour

Al-Hakim recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, “Adam was allowed to reside in Paradise during the time period between the `Asr (Afternoon) prayer, until sunset.” Al-Hakim then commented this is “Sahih according to the Two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not include it in their collections.” Also, Ibn Abi Hatim recorded Ibn `Abbas saying, “Allah sent Adam to earth to an area called, Dahna, between Makkah and At-Ta’if.” Al-Hasan Al-Basri said that Adam was sent down to India, while Hawwa’ was sent to Jeddah. Iblis was sent down to Dustumaysan, several miles from Basra. Further, the snake was sent down to Asbahan. This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim. Also, Muslim and An-Nasa’i recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«خَيْرُ يَوْمٍ طَلَعَتْ فِيهِ الشَّمْسُ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ فِيهِ خُلِقَ آدَمُ وَفِيهِ أُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَفِيهِ أُخْرِجَ مِنْهَا»

(Friday is the best day on which the sun has risen. On Friday, Allah created Adam, admitted him into Paradise, and expelled him from it.)

A Doubt and a Rebuttal

If one asks, “If the Paradise that Adam was thrown out of was in heaven, as the majority of the scholars assert, then is it possible for Iblis to enter Paradise, although he was expelled from it by Allah’s decision (when he refused to prostrate before Adam)”

Basically, the response to this would be that the Paradise which Adam was in, was in the heavens, not on the earth, as we explained in the beginning of our book Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah.

The majority of scholars said that Shaytan was originally prohibited from entering Paradise, but there were times when he sneaked into it in secret. For instance, the Tawrah stated that Iblis hid inside the snake’s mouth and entered Paradise. Some scholars said that it is possible that Shaytan led Adam and Hawwa’ astray on his way out of Paradise. Some scholars said that he led Adam and Hawwa’ astray when he was on earth, while they were still in heaven, as stated by Az-Zamakhshari. Al-Qurtubi mentioned several beneficial Hadiths here about snakes and the ruling on killing them.

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surah baqarah ayat 35
surah baqarah ayat 36
surah baqarah ayat 37
surah baqarah ayat 38
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