75قالَ يا إِبليسُ ما مَنَعَكَ أَن تَسجُدَ لِما خَلَقتُ بِيَدَيَّ ۖ أَستَكبَرتَ أَم كُنتَ مِنَ العالينَMuhammad AsadSaid He: "O Iblis! What has kept thee from prostrating thyself before that [being] which I have created with My hands?1 Art thou too proud [to bow down before another created being], or art thou of those who think [only] of themselves as high?"2Cf. the metaphorical phrase "the things which Our hands have wrought" in 36:71, explained in the corresponding note 42. In the present instance, the stress lies on the God-willed superiority of man's intellect - which, like everything else in the universe, is God's "handiwork" - over the rest of creation (see note 25 on 2:34).This "question" is, of course, only rhetorical, since God is omniscient. The phrase interpolated by me ("to bow down before another created being") reflects Zamakshari's interpretation of this passage.