Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/265

Ⅶ, 11-23. I order thee ?’ he said, ‘ I am better than he ; Thou hast created me from fire, and him Thou hast created out of clay.’

Said He, ‘Then go down therefrom; what ails thee that thou shouldst be big with pride therein ? go forth ! verily, thou art of the little ones.’

He said, ‘ Respite me until the day when they shall be raised.’ He said, ‘ Verily, thou art of the respited ;’ said he, ‘ For that Thou hast led me into error, I will lie in wait for them in Thy straight path ; then I will surely come to them, from before them and from behind them; and most of them Thou shalt not find thankful.’ He said, ‘ Go forth therefrom, despised, expelled ; whoso follows thee, I will surely fill hell with you altogether. But, O Adam, dwell thou and thy wife in Paradise and eat from whence ye will, but draw not nigh unto this tree or ye will be of the unjust.’

But Satan whispered to them to display to them what was kept back from them of their shame, and he said, ‘ Your Lord has only forbidden you this tree lest ye should be twain angels, or should become of the immortals ;’ and he swore to them both, ‘Verily, I am unto you a sincere adviser ;’ and he beguiled them by deceit, and when they twain tasted of the tree, their shame was shown them, and they began to stitch upon themselves the leaves of the garden. And their Lord called unto them, ‘ Did I not forbid you from that tree there, and say to you, Verily, Satan is to you an open foe ?’ They said, ‘ O our Lord ! we have wronged ourselves — and if Thou dost not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall surely be of those who are lost!’ He said, ‘Go ye down, one of you to the other a foe ; but for you in