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Four words carry this passage: the whisper, the false adviser, what shame is called in Arabic, and the verb for how he brought them down.
فَوَسْوَسَ
fawaswasa · 7:20 · ▶ hear ayah 20
Saheeh International: “whispered” — But Satan whispered to them
- Meaning in context
- “Whispered” is close. Al-Qurtubi explains waswasa as the faint, hidden sound, and notes the Arabs used the same word for the low noise a hunter and his dogs make and for the jingling of jewellery. It is also the word for the talk a person's own self keeps up. Indonesian speakers already own it: was-was, that low uneasy feeling, is this word. At 7:20 what is whispered is a deceptive argument: the manner is quiet, the content is a claim.
- Root
- و س و س w-s-w-s — a four-letter root, and the doubling is the point: the sound repeats. The concrete sense is the faint noise, as al-Qurtubi gives it; the mental sense follows from it. Corpus root ↗ · al-Qurtubi on 7:20 ↗
- For reflection
- At 50:16 the same verb is used for what a person's own soul whispers to him. Which of the two is talking is not always obvious from the inside. What is the quiet suggestion you have been hearing this week?
- In this surah
- Only here, 7:20.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Verb — 3rd person masculine singular, form I, perfect, with the prefixed particle fa. Corpus 7:20 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs five times in two derived forms — four times as the verb waswasa and once as the noun waswās. Three of the verb's occurrences:
- 7:20 فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ — then Shaytan whispered to them both.
- 20:120 فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانُ — the same event, told in Ta-Ha.
- 50:16 وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ — and We know what his own soul whispers to him.
On the tafsir page → Ibn Kathir reports that Shaytan claimed the tree would make them angels or keep them here forever. Reading that as an attack on the reason for the limit rather than on the limit itself is our framing, not his.
ٱلنَّـٰصِحِينَ
an-nāṣiḥīn · 7:21 · ▶ hear ayah 21
Saheeh International: “the sincere advisors” — Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors
- Meaning in context
- This is the word Indonesians use every day: nasihat, advice — the thing an older relative gives you for your own good. That is exactly the role Iblis claims, and he swears by Allah while claiming it. The whole of ayah 21 is five words, and four of them are the costume.
- Root
- ن ص ح n-ṣ-ḥ. The active participle nāṣiḥ is one who gives sincere counsel — someone wanting your good, not merely someone with an opinion. Corpus root ↗
- For reflection
- Advice that is bad for you rarely arrives looking like it. Whose advice do you accept without checking it, and what makes you trust them?
- In this surah
- The active participle appears three times. Iblis calls himself one of the nāṣiḥīn at 7:21. Hud calls himself a trustworthy nāṣiḥ at 7:68. At 7:79 Salih uses the verb and the participle in one breath — “I advised you, but you do not love the nāṣiḥīn” — the same word Iblis had claimed for himself. Counting the verb forms too, the root occurs six times in this surah, twice at 7:79. Hud and Salih are both prophets, both further along in this same surah, both sessions still ahead of us.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Noun — genitive masculine plural active participle. Corpus 7:21 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 13 times in four derived forms; the active participle nāṣiḥ six times. Besides 7:21, 7:68 and 7:79:
- 12:11 وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَنَاصِحُونَ — Yusuf's brothers, telling their father they only want the best for him.
- 28:20 إِنِّي لَكَ مِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ — the man who ran to warn Musa, and meant it.
On the tafsir page → Ibn Kathir reports Qatadah's comment: the argument behind the oath was seniority — I was here first, so I know more.
سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا
sawʾātihimā 7:20 · sawʾātuhumā 7:22 · ▶ hear ayah 22
Saheeh International: “their private parts” — their private parts became apparent to them
- Meaning in context
- The English is clinical and says only which part of the body. The Arabic says how it feels. Al-Jalalayn states it outright: these are called sawʾa because exposing them shames — yasūʾu — the person, and al-Qurtubi says the same. The name of the thing is built from the harm of it being seen.
- Root
- س و أ s-w-ʾ — the root of harm, grief and evil. You can see the plain sense in the verb from the same root at 3:120, تَسُؤْهُمْ tasuʾhum, “it grieves them.” Corpus root ↗ · al-Qurtubi on 7:20 ↗
- For reflection
- They cover themselves at once. The passage puts the weight on being uncovered before Allah rather than on who else might be watching. Where in your week does that difference actually change what you do?
- In this surah
- Four of the five occurrences of the plural are in Al-A'raf: here at 7:20 and 7:22, and twice more at 7:26–27 — which is next week's passage, where the answer to the exposure arrives as clothing.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Noun — genitive feminine plural, with a 3rd person masculine dual possessive pronoun (“of them two”). At 7:22 the same noun is nominative, sawʾātuhumā. Corpus 7:22 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 167 times in twelve derived forms. The plural sawʾāt occurs five times — 7:20, 7:22, 7:26, 7:27 and 20:121. The singular occurs twice, both in one ayah and both meaning a body that must be buried:
- 5:31 لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْءَةَ أَخِيهِ — to show him how to cover the body of his brother. The verb there, yuwārī, is the same verb used at 7:20 for what had been covered over.
On the tafsir page → Al-Qurtubi takes the speed of their covering as showing how serious the exposure was.
فَدَلَّىٰهُمَا
fadallāhumā · 7:22 · ▶ hear ayah 22
Saheeh International: “So he made them fall” — So he made them fall, through deception
- Meaning in context
- “Made them fall” reads like a shove. The commentators who explain the word all read it as a lowering: al-Jalalayn puts it as bringing them down from the standing they had, and al-Zamakhshari as lowering them to eating from the tree. He brought about their fall through deception.
- Root
- د ل و d-l-w — the root for letting a bucket down into a well on its rope. Al-Qurtubi gives this derivation first. He records a second, from al-dālla, boldness, meaning he emboldened them. The Quranic Arabic Corpus instead files the verb under د ل ل d-l-l, “to indicate, to show” — which is how a database search reaches Iblis’s offer in Ta-Ha, “shall I direct you to the tree of eternity.” That is a lemma tag rather than a reading of this verse, and none of the commentaries consulted for this session makes that connection here. Corpus root ↗ · al-Qurtubi on 7:22 ↗
- For reflection
- A small concession can sometimes lead to a larger wrong. What small step have you been shown lately that you would not take if you could see where it ends?
- In this surah
- Only here, 7:22.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Verb — 3rd person masculine singular perfect, with a 3rd person dual object pronoun (“them two”), and the prefixed particle fa. Corpus 7:22 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs eight times in two derived forms — seven times as the verb, once as the noun dalīl. The other occurrences are all ordinary “shall I show you”:
- 20:120 هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَىٰ شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ — Iblis again, to Adam, in the parallel account.
- 28:12 هَلْ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَىٰ أَهْلِ بَيْتٍ — Musa's sister, showing them a household.
On the tafsir page → Ibn 'Abbas, as al-Qurtubi reports him, says what did the work was the oath: Adam did not think anyone would swear by Allah and lie.
More words to notice
- ٱسْكُنْ uskun · 7:19
- “Dwell.” The root س ك ن means to become still and settle; it occurs 69 times in ten forms; one of them is sakīnah, the calm Allah sends down (six times). Indonesian keeps it in keluarga sakinah.
- لَا تَقْرَبَا lā taqrabā · 7:19
- “Do not approach.” The root ق ر ب occurs 96 times; this verb eleven times, almost always as a prohibition placed before the act itself — indecency (6:151), the orphan's property (6:152), zina (17:32). Heard in the briefing.
- ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ aẕ-ẕālimīn · 7:19
- “The wrongdoers.” The root ظ ل م occurs 315 times in twelve forms. Lane: putting a thing in a place not its own; the same root gives ẕulmah, darkness. Adam and his wife take the word back in 7:23, ẕalamnā anfusanā. Indonesian zalim.
- ٱلْخَـٰلِدِينَ al-khālidīn · 7:20
- “Those who remain forever.” The root خ ل د occurs 87 times; this participle 74 times, almost always for the people of the Garden or the Fire. The tree in 20:120 is named from the same root, shajarat al-khuld.
- وَقَاسَمَهُمَا wa-qāsamahumā · 7:21
- “And he swore to them both.” Form III of ق س م — Lane: to swear with or to someone about a thing, or to join in a pact. The only occurrence of this form in the Qur'an.
- يَخْصِفَانِ yakhṣifāni · 7:22
- “They began to fasten.” The root خ ص ف occurs only twice in the whole Qur'an — here and at 20:121, the same moment told again. Al-Qurtubi gives the concrete picture: cutting leaves and sticking them together, the way a cobbler patches a sandal.
- بِغُرُورٍۢ bighurūr · 7:22
- “By deception.” The root غ ر ر occurs 27 times in three forms; this noun nine times. It is the word for what looks like a bargain and is not.
- ٱلْخَـٰسِرِينَ al-khāsirīn · 7:23
- “The losers.” The root خ س ر occurs 65 times; this participle 32 times. Lane gives the original sense as loss in trade — capital that comes back smaller, or not at all. Indonesian rugi is the everyday gloss.
- مَتَـٰعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍۢ matāʿ ilā ḥīn · 7:24
- “Provision for a time.” Matāʿ, from the root م ت ع, is the Qur'an's word for the goods of this life, 35 times as this noun (3:14, 3:197). Ḥīn, Lane: a time in a vague sense, little or much, long or short — 35 occurrences.
- ٱهْبِطُوا۟ ihbiṭū · 7:24
- “Descend.” The root ه ب ط occurs eight times in the Qur'an, always as this one verb. The same command opens the parallel account at 2:36.
- مُسْتَقَرٌّۭ mustaqarr · 7:24
- “A place of settlement,” from ق ر ر, the root of settling and coming to rest — 38 occurrences in eight forms. Al-Tabari declines to narrow it to life as against death.
- تُخْرَجُونَ tukhrajūn · 7:25
- “You will be brought forth.” Passive form IV of خ ر ج; al-Jalalayn notes the active reading takhrujūn as well. The corpus lists this passive three times — here, 30:19 and 43:11 — each about being raised from the earth.
Self-check
Find the word in the ayah, then open the answer.
Which word in ayah 20 means “then he whispered”?
فَوَسْوَسَ
fawaswasa — the first word of the ayah.
Which word in ayah 21 is the role Iblis claims for himself?
ٱلنَّـٰصِحِينَ
an-nāṣiḥīn — the last word of the ayah.
Which word in ayah 22 names what became apparent to them?
سَوْءَٰتُهُمَا
sawʾātuhumā — the eighth word.
Which word in ayah 22 means “so he brought them down”?
فَدَلَّىٰهُمَا
fadallāhumā — the first word of the ayah.
| Word | Transliteration | Ayah |
|---|---|---|
| فَوَسْوَسَ | fawaswasa | 7:20 |
| ٱلنَّـٰصِحِينَ | an-nāṣiḥīn | 7:21 |
| سَوْءَٰتِهِمَا | sawʾātihimā / sawʾātuhumā | 7:20 / 7:22 |
| فَدَلَّىٰهُمَا | fadallāhumā | 7:22 |