ما أوّل شيء فعله أوّل إنسان في الدنيا؟ ليس ما تتوقّعه. أوّل إنسان أخطأ، ثم فعل بعد خطئه شيئًا صار طريقًا لكل من جاء بعده إلى اليوم — ولولاه ما عرف أحدٌ منّا كيف يرجع إلى الله بعد الذنب.
قبل أن يكون في الأرض إنسان، قال الله للملائكة: ﴿إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾. فخلق الله آدم من طين، ونفخ فيه من روحه، وعلّمه أسماء كل شيء — فكان العلم أوّل ما كُرِّم به الإنسان. ثم أمر الملائكة أن يسجدوا له فسجدوا كلهم، إلا إبليس ﴿أَبَىٰ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ﴾ وقال: ﴿أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِّنْهُ خَلَقْتَنِي مِن نَّارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِن طِينٍ﴾. فكان أوّل ذنب عُصي الله به كِبرًا.
أسكن الله آدم وزوجه الجنّة وقال: ﴿وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلَا تَقْرَبَا هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ﴾. كلّ شيء مباح إلّا شجرة واحدة. وجاءهما إبليس، ولم يأمرهما بالمعصية مباشرة — المخادع لا يفعل ذلك — بل قال: ﴿مَا نَهَاكُمَا رَبُّكُمَا عَنْ هَٰذِهِ الشَّجَرَةِ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَا مَلَكَيْنِ أَوْ تَكُونَا مِنَ الْخَالِدِينَ﴾، ثم ﴿وَقَاسَمَهُمَا إِنِّي لَكُمَا لَمِنَ النَّاصِحِينَ﴾ — حلف لهما أنه ناصح لهما. فأكلا من الشجرة.
والآن قارن بين اثنين، فهنا قلب القصة. إبليس أخطأ، وآدم أخطأ. فأمّا إبليس فقال: ﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ﴾، وأصرّ ولم يرجع. وأمّا آدم فقال: ﴿رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ﴾. لم يقل: الشيطان خدعني، ولم يقل: هي التي أعطتني. قال: ظلمنا أنفسنا. الذنب واحد في الحالتين، والفرق كله في ما جاء بعده.
﴿فَتَلَقَّىٰ آدَمُ مِن رَّبِّهِ كَلِمَاتٍ فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ﴾. ثم أنزله الله إلى الأرض ليعمرها، وقال له ولذريّته جميعًا: ﴿فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّي هُدًى فَمَن تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ﴾. فأنت اليوم من ذريّة رجل أخطأ ثم تاب، وأنت تعرف الطريق لأنه مشى فيه أوّل مرّة.
يقول الله تعالى في القرآن الكريم يعلمنا كيف اعتذر سيدنا آدم: {قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ}.
ليست العبرة ألّا تخطئ أبدًا، بل بما تفعله بعد الخطأ.
أخطأ إبليس وأخطأ آدم، فانتهى أحدهما إلى الرحمة والآخر إلى الطرد. ما الذي صنع الفرق في رأيك؟ وماذا تقول أنت عادةً بعد أن تخطئ؟
إذا أخطأتَ اليوم في حقّ أحد، فقل له: أنا آسف، أنا أخطأت — من غير أن تتبعها بـ«لكن».
القرآن الكريم، البقرة: 30-38 والأعراف: 11-25
الخلق وتعليم الأسماء وسجود الملائكة والتوبة، كله بنص الآيات.
What was the first thing the first human being did? Not what you expect. The first human made a mistake — and then did something afterwards that became a road for everyone who came after him. Without it, none of us would know how to come back to Allah after a wrong.
Before there was a human on earth, Allah said to the angels: {Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority.} So Allah created Adam from clay, breathed into him of His spirit, and taught him the names of all things — knowledge was the first honour given to a human being. Then He commanded the angels to prostrate to him, and they all did, except Iblis, who {refused and was arrogant} and said: {I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.} The first sin ever committed against Allah was pride.
Allah settled Adam and his wife in the Garden and said: {And eat from it in ease and abundance from wherever you will, but do not approach this tree.} Everything permitted except one tree. Then Iblis came to them, and did not order them to disobey outright — a deceiver never does — he said: {Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal.} Then {he swore to them, Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisers.} He swore he was giving them good advice. So they ate from the tree.
Now compare two, because here is the heart of the story. Iblis erred, and Adam erred. Iblis said: {By Your might, I will surely mislead them all}, and persisted and never came back. Adam said: {Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.} He did not say "Satan tricked me." He did not say "she gave it to me." He said: we wronged ourselves. The mistake was the same in both cases; the whole difference is in what came after it.
{Then Adam received from his Lord some words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.} Then Allah sent him down to the earth to build it up, and said to him and to all his descendants: {And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance — there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.} So you today are the descendant of a man who erred and then repented, and you know the road because he walked it first.
The point is not never making a mistake; it is what you do after one.
Iblis erred and Adam erred, and one ended in mercy and the other in exile. What made the difference, in your view? And what do you usually say after you get something wrong?
If you wrong someone today, tell them: I am sorry, I was wrong — without adding "but" afterwards.
The Quran, Al-Baqarah: 30-38 and Al-A'raf: 11-25
The creation, the teaching of the names, the angels' prostration and the repentance are all in the verses.