THE WORD OF GOD

conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with the leaves of the Garden. Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord and fell into error. Then his Lord had mercy on him, accepted his repentance and guided him. (20: 118-122) God kept Adam, with his spouse, in Paradise, where he was freely and amply provided with all the necessities of life—food, clothing, water and shelter. Adam was not required to do anything in return for these blessings, unlike in the present world where man has to earn all these things by his own hard labour. In Paradise, the fruit of a certain tree was prohibited for Adam. But Satan came and described to him the eternal advantages of this fruit. Adam, influenced by what he said, ate it, then immediately felt that he was naked. This was symbolic of the fact that God had instantly withdrawn the guarantee of providing him with sustenance without his having to earn it by his own labour. Thereafter, on his supplication and repentance, he was pardoned. However, he was removed from a world where God’s bounty had been freely given and sent to a world where he had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow. Such was the beginning of human existence on this earth. God said, ‘Go down, both of you, from here, as enemies to one another.’ If there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance will not lose his way, nor will he come to grief, but whoever turns away from My reminder, will lead a straitened existence and on the Day of Judgement We shall raise him up blind and he will ask, ‘Lord, why have You raised me up blind, while I possessed sight before?’ God will say, ‘Just as Our signs came to you and you ignored them, so will you on this Day be ignored.’ Thus We shall reward the transgressor who denies the signs of his Lord. But the suffering of the life to come is more terrible and more lasting. (20: 123-127) God settled Satan as well as Adam on the earth and gave due warning in the very beginning that clashes of interest between the two would go on till Doomsday. Satan would make every possible effort to mislead mankind, therefore, people should make it a point to treat him as their greatest enemy and try to stay far away from his inducements. To give further guidance to man, God periodically sent him His messengers, or prophets, who instructed him in the reality of life in a language which was clearly intelligible to him. Now, the success or failure of man depends on his own acceptance or rejection of the Prophet’s guidance. One who accepts this guidance will once again be ushered into the comfortable life of Paradise, whereas the life of one