angelic fall from Jewish and Christian
traditions. ‘‘Behold! We said to the
angels ‘Bow down to Adam’: they
bowed down except Iblis [Satan]. He
was one of the Jinns [in the Koran these
are spirit beings, either identical to or
similar to angels] and he broke the
command of his Lord’’ (Sura 18:50).
Satan disobeyed the command to bow
down to Adam, according to the Koran,
because he considered himself superior
to men: ‘‘(Allah) said: ‘What prevented
you from prostrating when I
commanded you?’ He said: ‘I am better
than he: Thou didst create me from fire,
and him from clay’ ’’ (Sura7:12).
The Koran suggests an intriguing
second reason why Satan refused
Allah’s command: he knew, somehow,
