Editing Iblis (section)

== Narrative exegesis (''Qiṣaṣ'') ==
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|image1=Expulsion_from_'the_Garden'.jpg |width1=202 |alt1= |caption1=Painting of the expulsion from "The Garden" by Al-Hakim Nishapuri. The main actors of the narration about Adam's fall are drawn: Adam, Hawwa (Eve), Iblis, the serpent, the peacock and an Angel, probably [[Ridwan (angel)|Ridwan]], who guards paradise.
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| image2    = Adam and Eve from a copy of the Falnama.jpg |width2=216 |alt2= |caption2=This painting is from a copy of the Fālnāmeh (Book of Omens) ascribed to [[Ja'far al-Sadiq|Ja´far al-Sādiq]]. It shows Adam, Eve, the serpent, the peacock, and Iblis, after their expulsion from Garden Eden. Iblis characteristically depicted black-faced is bottom-left in picture above the angels.}}
''Qiṣaṣ'' is a form of exegesis by [[Muslim]] scholars focusing on establishing a coherent story from material of Islamic scripture (Quran, ''ḥadīṯ'').<ref>{{cite book |title=The Qur'an and its Interpretive Tradition |first=Andrew |last=Rippin |series=Variorum Collected Studies Series |place=Aldershot and Burlington |publisher=Ashgate |year=2001 |pages=91–104|isbn=978-0860788485}}</ref><ref name="Öztürk">{{cite journal |last1=Öztürk |first1=Mustafa |title=Adam, Paradise and Fall |journal=Milel and Nihal |date=June 2004 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=151–186}}</ref> According to many of them, before Adam was created, the jinn, offspring of ''[[al-Jann|al-Jānn]]'' (الجان), lived on earth. First they were obedient but over time, immorality increased and, when they became infidels, God sent an army of angels, headed by Iblis, called "al-Jinn" (named after paradise, not the genus) to defeat them.<ref name="r895"/><ref name="Reynolds"/> These angels were created from ''[[Nar as-samum#Quran and tafsīr|nār as-samūm]]'', while the rest of the angels from light, and the genus of jinn from ''mārijin min nār'' (smokeless fire).<ref name="Reynolds"/>

In reference to the interpretation of the events in Surah 2:30-34, when the angels complain over mankinds' potential to shed blood and cause injustice, Islamic hagiographic narratives relate this to the previous story.<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Reynolds |first=Gabriel Said |title=Angels |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam Three Online |volume=III |editor-first=Kate |editor-last=Fleet |display-editors=etal |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204}}</ref> Tabari and al-Thaʿlabi explain that the angels feared that humanity will become as corrupt as the jinn.<ref name="Reynolds"/>

Some later traditions place Iblis among the genus of the jinn instead. In one narration of the ''[[Tarikh Khamis]]'', among the masses of infidel jinn only Iblis dedicated his life to worship of God, withdrawing to a high mountain. The angels soon notice him and elevate him to the heavens, where he becomes one like them in worship.{{sfnp|Awn|1983|p=30}}

With reference to Surah 76:1, Islamic narrative tradition considers Adam to be created step by step, beginning as an inanimate body.<ref name="Chipman-2001">{{cite journal |first=Leigh N. B. |last=Chipman |year=2001 |title=Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam's Creation in Judaism and Islam |journal=Studia Islamica |volume=93 |issue=93 |pages=5–25 |doi=10.2307/1596106|jstor=1596106 }}</ref> The story is mentioned by various scholars of the Sunni tradition, including [[Muqatil ibn Sulayman|Muqatil]], Tabari, [[al-Masudi|Mas'udi]], [[Al-Kisa'i|Kisa'i]], and Tha'labi.<ref name="Chipman-2001"/> The angels passing by him were scared. Most afraid was Iblis. To overcome his anxiety, he enters Adam and moves through the body.<ref name="Chipman-2001"/> He concludes that "this is hollow clay", whereas Iblis is "fire".<ref name="Chipman-2001"/> Since fire overcomes clay, he vows to destroy Adam like fire destroys clay:

<blockquote>You are nothing – because of his ringing – and you were made for nothing! If I am to rule over you, I will kill you, and if you are to rule over me, I will rebel against you.<ref name="Chipman-2001"/></blockquote>

Some scholars (among them Thala'bi, Tabarsi,<ref name="i807">{{cite journal | last1=Smith | first1=Jane I. | last2=Haddad | first2=Yvonne Y. | title=Eve: Islamic image of woman | journal=Women's Studies International Forum | volume=5 | issue=2 | date=1982 | doi=10.1016/0277-5395(82)90022-X | pages=135–144}}</ref> Diyarbakri{{sfnp|Awn|1983|p=44}}) explain, with slightly variations, Iblis' entry to the Garden of Eden by the aid of a serpent and a peacock. Some traditions have the Garden of Eden being warded by an [[Ridwan (angel)|angelic guardian]]. Thus, Iblis persuades a peacock to get help, by promising him that, if he enters the Garden, the beauty of the peacock will never decay thanks to the fruit of immortality. The peacock, unable to carry Iblis, persuades the serpent, who decides to slip Iblis by carrying him in his mouth. From the mouth of the serpent, Iblis speaks to Adam and Ḥawwāʾ.<ref>{{cite book|first=Absalom D.|last=Shabaz|title=Land of the Lion and the Sun: Personal Experiences, the Nations of Persia-their Manners, Customs, and Their Belief|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|location=New Haven, Connecticut|date=1904|page=96}}</ref>