20 Preface فَوَسوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيطانُ لِيُبدِيَ لَهُما ما وورِيَ عَنهُما مِن سَوآتِهِما وَقالَ ما نَهاكُما رَبُّكُما عَن هٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلّا أَن تَكونا مَلَكَينِ أَو تَكونا مِنَ الخالِدينَYusuf AliThen began Satan1 to whisper suggestions to them, in order to reveal to them their shame2 that was hidden from them (before): he said: “Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live forever.”The transition from the name “Iblis” to the name “Satan” is similar to that in 2:36, where it is explained in n. 52.Our first parents as created by God (and this applies to all of us) were innocent in matters material as well as spiritual. They knew no evil. But the faculty of choice, which was given to them and which raised them above the angels, also implied that they had the capacity of evil, which by the training of their own will, they were to reject. They were warned of the danger. When they fell, they realised the evil. They were (and we are) still given the chance, in this life on a lower plane, to make good and recover the lost status of innocence and bliss.