The Almighty ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam (pth): “Then, We said to the angels: ‘Prostrate yourselves to Adam’. They prostrated themselves…”: meaning that they all obeyed God as they knew that He was their Creator and Provider. “…except Iblis (Satan)…” who was one of the jinn-kind.
The Almighty had brought him together with the angels and had let him attend that festival of prostration so as to raise his rank and to uplift him. But the devil rejected that and he did not prostrate himself. He had mistaken what was right for what was wrong, and therefore he was called ‘Iblis’ which indicates such a meaning in the Arabic language.
He refused, opposed and had disdain because he did not know his Provider. “…he (the devil) said: ‘Do I prostrate myself to whom You have created out of mud?’ ”: what he meant was: “Adam is not like me”.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 17, Al-Isra’ (The Night Journey), verse 61
He also said: “…I am better than he; You have created me out of fire but he out of mud.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 38, Sâd (the Letter, S = True), verse 76
Although the devil had entered the heaven of our great master Adam (pth); although he had tasted the same Godly manifestation that had descended upon our master Adam; although he had witnessed the world of angels who had been immersed in Adam’s paradise (just as he had), and who had all prostrated themselves together: nonetheless, he felt envy for Adam’s rank (pth), and he failed to esteem him (pth) due to his own self-conceit. Therefore, he did not prostrate himself and turned away, so drawing far from him (Adam) and from Al’lah.
Thus, he deviated from what was right and deprived himself of the life that was coming to him from the Living, the Sustainer.
The springs of his spirit became dry until they became inflamed and they burned and he turned into a mutinous devil.
The word for ‘devil’ in Arabic is ‘Shaitan’. In idiomatic language, it is derived from ‘Shatana’ and ‘Shata’ which mean ‘to draw far away’ and ‘to be burned’.
So, the devil drew far away until he burned with the flames of distance from God and His messenger Adam (pth).
The word for ‘mutinous’ in Arabic is ‘marida’. It is derived from ‘rad’da’ which means “to refuse” and from ‘rada’ which means ‘to seek’. So, the devil set about refusing what was right and seeking what was false.
In another verse, the devil also said: “…Seest Thou? This is the one whom You have honored above me! ...”: so, he charged God with injustice when He chose Adam above him. He did not know that Adam (pth) got that rank because of his truthfulness before his Provider and his adherence, love and obedience to Him. The devil continued: “…if Thou give me respite till the Day of Resurrection, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway – all but a few!”: this was how he described his actions to himself.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 17, Al-Isra’ (The Night Journey), verse 62
Since that time, he declared himself to be the enemy of Adam’s children because of his blind jealousy and envy. This is mentioned in another Fortress wherein he says:
“...I will take of Thy servants a portion marked off”, which means that anyone who follows him will be his. He then continued by saying:
“I will mislead them, and I will rise vain hopes in them…”: i.e. he would make his followers become driven by the deception of wishes and daydreams, and would “…order them to slit the ears of cattle…”: although it is claimed that this is done to prevent them from being alarmed, actually they just cause them intense pain by doing this. They do what the devil said, when he said, “…I shall order them to tamper with Al’lah’s creation…”: just as they castrate sheep. Actually, castration does make the sheep grow fatter, but it also means that they have no energy or nourishment within them. “…indeed, whoever, forsaking Al’lah, takes Satan for a friend, has of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest.”: and this is so because his purpose is only to cause harm to all of humanity, whoever they may be.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 4, An-Nisa’ (Women), verse 118-119