Peace be upon you. Allah says, 'And He taught Adam the names, all of them.' What are those names? And why did the angels accept the answer from the Most Merciful? How did the angels know about the corruption on earth?
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1 Answer
Peace and mercy be upon you...
As for those names, the term 'names' refers to the collection of names, and a name is what indicates a thing (the named). Every thing (named) has a name assigned to it, such as mountain, valley, carpet, bed, cup, book, and so on. This includes names of people and the beautiful names of Allah... and encompasses every name. A name may also refer to the meaning of the thing, thus names can be meanings.
As for the referent, it is possible that it refers to everything we mentioned, or it could refer to some of what we mentioned.
It should be noted that the claim that it refers to some requires evidence, either from the Quran itself or from interpretative hadiths.
Interpreters have divided into those who say that the intended meaning is the names of his descendants and the names of the angels, and those who say that it means He taught him the meanings of the names, and those who say that it refers to knowledge of languages.
The first evidence is that it says: 'Then He presented them,' and the pronoun 'them' is used for those who can reason. Therefore, it must mean that He taught him the names of those who can reason.
The second evidence is that knowing the names without knowing their meanings is of no benefit. It is not limited to the knowledge of rational beings, but the pronoun refers to all names, rational and non-rational, and the pronoun for rational beings is used in a dominant sense, which is a well-known Arabic style.
The third view can coexist with the previous two without contradicting them.
It has been reported from the family of the Prophet and the source of the message that the intended meaning is the names of creatures such as mountains, seas, valleys, plants, animals, and others.
In one narration: 'The names of the prophets of Allah, His saints, and the tyrants of His enemies' [Al-Asfah, Vol. 1, p. 25].
Al-Fayd al-Kashani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I say: The point of agreement is that the intended names are the beautiful names of Allah by which the creatures were created, as indicated in the supplications of the family of the Prophet - peace be upon them - when they say: 'And by the name by which You created the Throne, and by the name by which You created the Chair, and by the name by which You created the souls,' and so on. Every creature is assigned a name due to the predominance of the attribute indicated by that name in it, as mentioned in the sacred hadith: 'O Adam, this is Muhammad, and I am the Praiseworthy in My actions; I have created for him a name from My name; and this is Ali, and I am the Most High, the Great; I have created for him a name from My name.' In the hadith, it is sometimes attributed to all creatures because they are all manifestations in which their attributes appear separately; and at other times to the allies and enemies, because they are manifestations in which their attributes appear collectively, meaning that all attributes of grace appear in the allies, and all attributes of might appear in the enemies. The meaning of teaching Adam all of them is that He created him from different parts and diverse powers, so he became capable of perceiving various types of perceptions, from rational to sensory to imaginative and illusory, and inspired him with knowledge of the essences of things, their properties, the foundations of knowledge, the laws of crafts, and how to use them, and the distinction between the allies of Allah and His enemies; thus, he came to know all of this as manifestations of all the beautiful names of Allah, and the totality of all the perfections of existence suitable for him, until he became selected for the great Book of Allah, which is the greater world, as Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: 'And in you is contained the greater world' [Al-Asfah: Vol. 1, p. 26].
Al-Allama al-Tabatabai believed that the intended meaning is: that Allah taught Adam what is in the treasures of His unseen from things, which is the unseen of the heavens and the earth. For if he had known those names as we know their names, he would not have had any superiority over the angels; rather, Allah taught him the realities of things, which qualified him for divine vicegerency.
In other words, Allah taught Adam the realities of things, which are characterized by life and knowledge in the treasures that He mentioned: 'And there is not a thing but that its treasures are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure.' With that knowledge, he was qualified for divine vicegerency. It was not the nature of the angels to know that. Vicegerency is not merely to glorify and sanctify Allah.
Sayed Abdul A'la al-Sabzawari said: 'This knowledge was not limited to specific words and names; in this great position and high rank, he learned all divine knowledge that contributes to the perfection of man in both worlds, as the teaching included the secrets of destiny and the properties of things, including the properties of plants, and he recognized the causes of joy and happiness and the reasons for sadness and distress, for Adam and all the proofs of Allah are His ambassadors on earth, and the ambassador must be knowledgeable about his embassy' [Mawahib al-Rahman, Vol. 1, p. 173].
As for how they knew that there would be corruption and bloodshed, it is because the being that He informed them about is material, composed of angry and lustful powers, and the world (dunya) is a place of competition, 'limited in directions, abundant in conflicts, its compounds are subject to dissolution, and its arrangements and reforms are in the realm of corruption and the source of nullity; life in it can only be sustained through collective life, and its survival can only be completed through social cooperation, thus it is never free from corruption and bloodshed. They understood from this that the intended vicegerency cannot occur on earth except with a multitude of individuals and a social system among them that ultimately leads to corruption and bloodshed' [Al-Mizan in the Interpretation of the Quran, Vol. 1, p. 115].
As for why they accepted the answer from Allah, the Most Merciful, it is because they saw what they could not bear; when Adam informed them of their names, they realized that he was worthy of vicegerency and that corruption and bloodshed were not obstacles to vicegerency.
May you be successful in all good.