SATANIC TEMPTATIONS IN ATTRACTIVE FORMS

      Here is another part of Adam's story that; after his creation and the incident of the angels and Satan in prostration; he was placed in the Garden of Bliss and innocence:

      ``And, O, Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Garden. Therein you may eat of whatever you wish, except this tree, which you are forbidden to eat from its fruit, or even to approach it.''

      According to some Islamic traditions, the said Garden in which Adam dwelled, was not the promised Paradise which is the abode of the believers after the Day of Doom.

      Adam and Eve lived happily in that Garden of felicity for a short period. When Satan who was expelled on account of his jealousy and pride, interrupted their prosperity, and fixed his alluring troops in their way, he began with temptations, and made use of their weak points such as their love for immortality. Satan approached the couple in the form of friendship and a sincere advisor, and swore by the great name of Allah that he was their faithful well-wisher! And so he seduced them to eat of the forbidden fruit.

      Adam who had not enough experience, how could he believe that a creature dare to swear by the Creator, to prove a lie!?

      As soon as they ate the forbidden fruit, they were undressed and stripped off from their rank and the sacred garment by which they were clothed and covered in the Garden; and at once their privy parts was revealed to them- they were naked! Quranic verses imply that Adam and Eve were dressed with some sort of clothing in that Garden of Bliss; but when they ate of the forbidden fruit, they became bare. Contrary to this, it is cited in the old Testement, ``that they were completely nude but they were not embarrassed! When they ate of the forbidden tree which was the knowledge of good and bad; it was made known to them that they were naked and uncovered, and they began to hide their privy parts with large leaves that they could find.''

WHAT WAS THE FORBIDDEN TREE?

      In six cases in Quran, mention is made of the forbidden tree, but it does not say what the fruit really was. In some Islamic traditions wheat is said to have been it; and some other narrations comment it to have been the tree of JEALOUSY, in a figurative language. In the canonical Bible it is cited that it was the tree of knowledge - the knowledge of good and bad.

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      (The incident of Adam and Eve has been narrated in the canonical Bible as under mentioned:

GENESIS 2: 15

      ``The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.'' He said to him: ``You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and bad! you must not eat the fruit of that tree. If you do, you will die the same day!''

GENESIS 2: 25

      ``The man and the woman were both naked (in the garden) but they were not embarrassed!''

GENESIS 3: 1

      ``Now the SNAKE was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman; `did god realy tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?''

      ``We may eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden.'' The woman answered, ``Except the tree in the middle of it; God told us not to eat fruit of that tree or even touch it - if we do, we will die.''

      The snake replied: ``That's not true! You will not die. God said that because He knows that when you eat it you will be like God, and know what is good and what is bad.''

      ``So she took some of the fruit and ate it! Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.''

      Dear Reader! You may compare the two narrations of the same incident from the Holy Quran and the Bible as it is written above, and go a little deeper through the matter. From such comparison and study, I personally understand that, knowledge of good or bad or anything, could not have caused the fall of Adam, because his knowledge of names and things raised him to such a rank and dignity that the angels had to prostrate themselves before him, in order to celebrate the praise of God for His strange Creation.

      From such hints that are given in Quran; `that when the couple ate of the forbidden fruit, they lost their dress and their privy parts revealed to them and etc.', the forbidden tree must have been the Tree of Passion, the fruit of which excited in them the interest for sexual intercourse; and that garden was not a place suitable for reproduction and procreation.   TRANSLATOR'S NOTE)