A Brief Reflection on the Interrelation Between Forgetfulness, Consistency, Temperateness, Ignorance, and Falling Astray 

I have been tracking the theme of “forgetfulness” and “remembering” in the surah Ta Ha (20) up to now.  We see the same theme in the next passage:

“[Prophet], do not rush to recite before the revelation is fully complete [Muhammad, when repeating to Gabriel each revelation, after the angel delivered it, sometimes in his eagerness started repeating even before Gabriel had finished revealing.  See also 75: 16–19.] but say, ‘Lord, increase me in knowledge!’  We also commanded Adam before you, but he forgot and We found him lacking in constancy.  When We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ they did. But Iblis refused, so We said, ‘Adam, this is your enemy, yours and your wife’s: do not let him drive you out of the garden and make you miserable.  In the garden you will never go hungry, feel naked, be thirsty, or suffer the heat of the sun.’  But Satan whispered to Adam, saying, ‘Adam, shall I show you the tree of immortality and power that never decays?’ and they both ate from it. They became conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with leaves from the garden. Adam disobeyed his Lord and was led astray– later his Lord brought him close, accepted his repentance, and guided him– God said, ‘Get out of the garden as each other’s enemy.’” (20:114-122)

Gabriel asks Muhammad “don’t rush to recite before the revelation is fully complete, but say, ‘Lord, increase me in knowledge!’”  What does this “but” mean here?  Repetition and recitation the message of God is utterly pivotal, but increasing “knowledge”, not blind repetition and imitation, but understanding the message is more important.  So, Gabriel advises Muhammad to seek knowledge and depth rather than simple repetition. 

This point becomes clearer, when after inviting the prophet to supplicate God to increase his knowledge, God narrates the story of Adam and Iblis: “We also commanded Adam before you, but he forgot and We found him lacking in constancy.”  There ought to be a relation between increasing knowledge, not being forgetful, and having and showing constancy.  What is this relation?  What God-given knowledge did Adam forget?  As we saw before, God taught all the names to Adam and demonstrated his knowledge before Angels and jinns (and according to the Quran Iblis is a jinn).  God asked Adam to tell them the names of all things, and afterward God asked them to bow down to Adam, with revering God’s command with understanding.  I can imagine this fragile mortal being made of clay, Adam, in front of agile creatures made of light and fire, and possibly immortal, couldn’t fathom why they should have bowed down to Adam.  But God gave them a clue: knowledge.  This knowledge is not only a book knowledge: it is understanding Being and God-consciousness.  Adam knows the name of all things, which means God can increase Adam’s knowledge.  Angels and jinns don’t have that knowledge.  So, the omnipotent God teaches us that greatness is not in power and immortality but in having God-consciousness (taqwa), increasing one’s knowledge, to understand and abide by God’s commands.  Adam’s lack of constancy implies two things: first, his knowledge was not deep enough to abide by God’s commands with understanding; second, this lack of knowledge caused him to forget the commands of God.  There is a relation between “forgetfulness” and “lack of knowledge”.  So, Gabriel advises the prophet not to rush to repeat the revelations from God, but asks God to increase his knowledge so that he doesn’t forget the message, as Adam did.  And this chain cycle of lack of knowledge and God-consciousness, forgetfulness, and not abiding by God’s command, manifests itself again in what comes next:    

“When We said to the angels, ‘Bow down before Adam,’ they did. But Iblis refused, so We said, ‘Adam, this is your enemy, yours and your wife’s: do not let him drive you out of the garden and make you miserable.  In the garden you will never go hungry, feel naked, be thirsty, or suffer the heat of the sun.’  But Satan whispered to Adam, saying, ‘Adam, shall I show you the tree of immortality and power that never decays?’ and they both ate from it. They became conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with leaves from the garden. Adam disobeyed his Lord and was led astray– later his Lord brought him close, accepted his repentance, and guided him– God said, ‘Get out of the garden as each other’s enemy.’”

Iblis disobeys God out of desire for power and self-complacency, which is a manifestation of lack of knowledge: lack of God-consciousness and understanding the poverty of our existence.  And Iblis deceives Adam by craving for power and immortality as well.  Indeed, the tree is not the tree of knowledge, but death, shame, and desire for power.  God exhorts Adam and Eve that if you eat from this tree you will die, live miserably, and feel naked.  There ought to be a relation between “desire for power and immortality”, “death”, “living miserably”, and “being conscious of their nakedness”.  What is this relationship?  After eating from the tree, indeed Adam and Eve died on the earth, and Caine killed his brother Abel.  As well human beings experienced will to power, pleasure, and shame, especially from sexual nakedness, which indicates excess of desire and transgressing boundaries.  In “A Brief Reflection on the Story of the Fall and Ascent in the Quran”, I elaborated on the notion of “garment” in the Quran and how now Satan tries to take our cloth off our bodies and to push us to follow our own shallow desires by shamelessness.  So, the primordial shame, according to the Quran, ought to be healed not by shamelessness and nudity, but by the garment of God-consciousness: “Children of Adam, We have given you garments to cover your nakedness and as adornment for you; the garment of God-consciousness is the best of all garments– this is one of God’s signs, so that people may take heed.” (7:26)

http://philosophyweeklyreflections.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-brief-reflection-on-story-of-fall-and.html

Thus, the common thread between thirst for power and shame of nakedness is excess in desire.  By eating from the tree, Adam and Eve introduced evil of excess of desire for power and pleasure into their soul.  And this all happened for “lack of knowledge” in understanding the wisdom of God’s commands.      

In the above verses, one may summarize, Gabriel admonishes: look the Prophet, I am conveying God’s command and wisdom to you, don’t rush to repeat the verses but supplicate to God to increase-your knowledge-so-that-you-don’t-follow-your-own-desires-and-forget-God-and-God’s commands-and-go-astray.  Because God taught all the names to Adam too and he lacked constancy and deep understanding and knowledge, forgot the message, disobeyed God, and fell astray.