69ما كانَ لِيَ مِن عِلمٍ بِالمَلَإِ الأَعلىٰ إِذ يَختَصِمونَMuhammad Asad[Say, O Muhammad:] "No knowledge would I have had of [what passed among] the host on high when they argued [against the creation of man];1For the allegorical contention of the angels ("the host on high") against the creation of man, see 2:30 ff. and the corresponding notes 22-24. The allegory of man's creation, of God's command to the angels to "prostrate themselves" before the new creature, and of Iblis' refusal to do so appears in the Qur'an six times (2:30-34, 7:11 ff., 15:28-44, 17:61-65, 18:50, and 38:69-85), each time with an accent on a different aspect of this allegory. In the present instance (which is undoubtedly the earliest in the chronology of revelation) it is connected with the statement, in 2:31, that God "imparted unto Adam the names of all things", i.e., endowed man with the faculty of conceptual thinking (see note 23 on 2:31) and, thus, with the ability to discern between what is true and what false. Since he possesses this faculty, man has no excuse for not realizing God's existence and oneness - the "message tremendous" - referred to in the preceding passage.