More Quran Fables Exposed: Satan’s Fall

In this post I will share another one of those Christian fables and legends, which were widespread prior to the rise of Islam and which Muhammad, being an “ear”, heard and adapted in order pass off his lies as revelations from God. The work I will be citing is dated to the sixth century AD. Some date it to around the early part of the seventh century AD, around 630. Yet it is based on earlier traditions, which were already circulating among these Christian groups, and therefore is most definitely prior to the rise of Islam. All emphasis will be mine.

The Book of the Cave of Treasures – The First Thousand Years: Adam to Yared (Jared). (https://sacred-texts.com/chr/bct/bct04.htm)

[The Creation. Sixth Day.] And on the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, God formed man out of the dust, and Eve from his rib.

And on the Seventh Day God rested from His labours, and it is called “Sabbath.” [The Creation of Adam.]

Now the formation of Adam took place in this wise: On the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, at the first hour of the day, when quietness was reigning over [Fol. 4b, col. 2] all the Ranks [of the Angels], and the hosts [of heaven], God said, “Come ye, let Us make man in Our image, and according to Our likeness.” Now by this word “Us” He maketh known concerning the Glorious Persons [of the Trinity]. And when the angels heard this utterance, they fell into a state of fear and trembling, and they said to one another, “A mighty miracle will be made manifest to us this day [that is to say], the likeness of God, our Maker.” And they saw the right hand of God opened out flat, and stretched out over the whole world; and all creatures were collected in the palm of His right hand. And they saw that He took from the whole mass of the earth one grain of dust, and from the whole nature of water one drop of p. 52 water, and from all the air which is above one puff of wind, and from the whole nature of fire a little of its heat and warmth. And the angels saw that when these four feeble (or inert) materials were placed in the palm of His right hand [Fol. 5a, col. 1], that is to say, cold, and heat, and dryness, and moisture, God formed Adam. Now, for what reason did God make Adam out of these four materials unless it were [to show] that everything which is in the world should be in subordination to him through them? He took a grain from the earth in order that everything in nature which is formed of earth should be subject unto him; and a drop of water in order that everything which is in the seas and rivers should be his; and a puff of air so that all kinds [of creatures] which fly in the air might be given unto him; and the heat of fire so that all the beings that are fiery in nature, and the celestial hosts, might be his helpers.

God formed Adam with His holy hands, in His own Image and Likeness, and when the angels saw Adam’s glorious appearance they were greatly moved by the beauty thereof. For they saw [Fol. 5a, col. 2] the image of his face burning with glorious splendour like the orb of the sun, and the light of his eyes was like the light of the sun, and the image of his body was like unto the sparkling of crystal. And p. 53 when he rose at full length and stood upright in the centre of the earth, he planted his two feet on that spot whereon was set up the Cross of our Redeemer; for Adam was created in Jerusalem. There he was arrayed in the apparel of sovereignty, and there was the crown of glory set upon his head, there was he made king, and priest, and prophet, there did God make him to sit upon his honourable throne, and there did God give him dominion over all creatures and things. And all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and the feathered fowl were gathered together, and they passed before Adam and he assigned names to them; and they bowed their heads before him; and everything in nature worshipped him [Fol. 5b, col. 1], and submitted themselves unto him. And the angels and the hosts of heaven heard the Voice of God saying unto him, “Adam, behold; I have made thee king, and priest, and prophet, and lord, and head, and governor of everything which hath been made and created; and they shall be in subjection unto thee, and they shall be thine, and I have given unto thee power over everything which I have created.” And when the angels heard this speech they all bowed the knee and worshipped Him.

[NOTES.–The Jews consider that the words, “Come, let Us make man,” refer to God and the p. 54 angels, but the Fathers of the Syrian Church understand that God refers to the Three Persons of the Trinity. Some Fathers believe that Adam was formed on the morning of the Sixth Day, outside Paradise, but others think that the formation of Adam took place in the evening in Paradise. According to some, Paradise was created before the world, and, according to others, on the Third Day. Bar Hebraeus says that Adam was created on Friday of the first week of Nîsân (April), the first month of the first year of the world. The Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches have a tradition that the angels were not all created at the same time. The great archangel Michael, who is called the “Angel of the Face,” and all his Rank of angels were created in the first hour of Friday, the Priests in the second, the Thrones in the third, the Dominions (or Sultâns) in the fourth, the Lords in the fifth, the Powers in the sixth, the Tens of Thousands in the seventh, the Governors in the eighth, the Masters in the ninth. After the Governors the Rank of angels governed by Satan were created, and then the Tenth Rank.

According to a Coptic tradition preserved in the Discourse on Abbatôn, the Angel of Death, by Timothy, Archbishop of Rakoti (Alexandria), the clay of which Adam was made was brought by the angel Mûrîêl from the Land of the East. p. 55 When God had made his body He left it lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into it. At the request of our Lord, Who promised to become Adam’s advocate and to go down into the world, God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life three times, saying, “Live! Live! Live! according to the type of My Divinity.” Thereupon Adam rose up, and worshipped the Father, saying, “My Lord and my God.” (Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 482.)]

[THE REVOLT OF SATAN, AND THE BATTLE IN HEAVEN.]

And when the prince of the lower order of angels saw what great majesty had been given unto Adam, he was jealous of him from that day, and he did not wish to worship him. And he said unto his hosts, “Ye shall not worship him, and ye shall not praise him with the angels. It is meet that ye should worship me, because I am fire and spirit; and not that I should worship a thing of dust, which hath been fashioned of fine dust.” And the Rebel meditating these things [Fol. 5b, col. 2] would not render obedience to God, and of his own free will he asserted his independence and separated himself from God. But he was swept away out of heaven and fell, and the fall of himself and of all his company from heaven took place on the p. 56 Sixth Day, at the second hour of the day. And the apparel of their glorious state was stripped off them. And his name was called “Sâtânâ” because he turned aside [from the right way], and “Shêdâ” because he was cast out, and “Daiwâ” because he lost the apparel of his glory. And behold, from that time until the present day, he and all his hosts have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible faces. And when Sâtânâ was cast out from heaven, Adam was raised up so that he might ascend to Paradise in a chariot of fire. And the angels went before him, singing praises, and the Seraphim ascribed holiness unto him, and the Cherubim ascribed blessing; and amid cries of joy and praises Adam went into [Fol. 6a, col. 1] Paradise. And as soon as Adam entered Paradise he was commanded not to eat of a [certain] tree; his entrance into heaven took place at the third hour of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. on Friday morning).

[NOTES.–The Fathers of the Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches treat the story of the Fall of Satan in great detail. According to them, Satan, or Satnâêl, was greatly astonished at the beauty and splendour of the sun and moon, and on the Fourth Day of the week he declared to himself that he would set his throne above the stars, p. 57 and make himself equal to God. One week after the creation of Adam, Satan declared war on the hosts of Almighty God. These were commanded by Michael and consisted of 120,000 horsemen, 600,000 shield bearers, 700,000 mail-clad horsemen in chariots of fire, 700,000 torch bearers, 800,000 angels with daggers of fire, 1,000,000 slingers, 500,000 bearers of axes of fire, 300,000 bearers of fiery crosses, and 400,000 bearers of lamps. The angels uttered their battle cries and began to fight, but Satan charged them and dispersed them; they reformed, but again Satan charged them and put them to flight. Then God gave the angels the Cross of Light, which bore the legend, “In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” And when they attacked the hosts of darkness under this Cross, Satan became faint, and he and his forces withdrew, and Michael hurled them down into hell. The Abyssinian legend says that Satan was 1,700 cubits high, and his hand 70 cubits long, and his foot 7,000 cubits long; his mouth was 40 cubits in width, his face was as broad as the distance of a day’s journey, and the length of his eyebrows was a distance of three days’ journey. [From the Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth.] The prototype of the great fight in heaven between the powers of light and darkness is found in p. 58 ancient Egyptian religious texts, in more than one form. In the oldest form Set, , the Devil, rebels against Her-ur, , the god of heaven, whose chief symbols are the sun and moon, and is utterly defeated. In the next form Set attacks the Sun-god R¯a, , and is destroyed by him; the great ally of Set, called ¯Apep (Apôphis), , and all his fiends and devils (the Sebau), , are defeated and burnt up daily. In another form Set makes war on Horus, the son of Osiris, and on Osiris himself, and is defeated utterly. The Coptic version of the legend was borrowed from the old hieroglyphic texts, and then Christianized. Compare the following:– When Satan saw Adam seated on a great throne, with a crown of glory on his head and a sceptre in his hand, and all the angels worshipping him, he was filled with anger. And when God said to him, “Come thou also, for thou shalt worship My image and likeness,” Satan refused to do so, and, assuming an arrogant and insolent manner, he said, “It is meet that he should worship me, for I existed before he came into being.” When the Father saw his overbearing attitude, He knew that Satan’s wickedness p. 59 and rebellion had reached their highest pitch. He ordered the celestial soldiers to take from him the written authority that was in his hand, to strip off his armour, and to hurl him down from heaven to earth. Satan was the greatest of the angels, and God had made him the Commander-in-Chief of the celestial hosts, and in the document which Satan held in his hand were written the names of all the angels under his command. Knowing their names, his authority over them was absolute. When God saw that the angels hesitated to take the document from him, He commanded them to bring a sharp reaping-knife, and to stab him on this side and that, right through his body to the backbone and shoulder blades; and Satan could no longer stand upright. And a Cherub smote him, and broke his wings and his ribs, and having rendered him helpless he cast Satan down from Heaven upon the earth. Then he became the Arch-Devil and the leader of those who were cast out of heaven with him, and who henceforth were devils. (From Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 484.)]

[THE MAKING OF EVE.]

And God cast a sleep upon Adam and he slept. And God took a rib from the loins on the right side of Adam, and He made Khâwâ (i.e. Eve) from it; and when Adam woke up, and saw Eve, p. 60 he rejoiced in her greatly. And Adam and Eve were in Paradise, and clothed with glory and shining with praise for three hours. Now this Paradise was situated on a high range of hills, and it was thirty spans–according to the measurement of the spirit–higher than all the high mountains, and it surrounded the whole earth.

[NOTES.–God did not make Eve of earth, that she might not be considered something alien to Adam in nature; and He did not take her from Adam’s fore-parts, that she might not uplift herself against him; nor from his hindparts, that she might not be accounted despicable; nor from his right side, that she might not have pre-eminence over him; nor from his head, that she might not seek authority over him; nor from his feet, that she might not be trodden down and scorned in the eyes of her husband; but [He took her] from his left side, for the side is the place which unites and joins both front and back (Book of the Bee, chapter xiv, and Bar Hebraeus, Ausar Râzê). Further, God did not form Eve from Adam’s head, that she might not carry her head proudly; nor from his eye, that she might not be curious; nor from his ear, that she might not be an eavesdropper; nor from his mouth, that she might not be gossiping; p. 61 nor from his heart, that she might not be quarrelsome; nor from his hand, that she might not touch everything with her hand; nor from his feet, that she might not rove about (Berêshîth Rabbah on Gen. ii. 23).]

[THE SYMBOLISM OF EDEN.] Now Eden is the Holy Church, and the Church [Fol. 6a, col. 2] is the compassion of God, which He was about to extend to the children of men. For God, according to His foreknowledge, knew what Satan had devised against Adam, and therefore He set Adam beforehand in the bosom of His compassion, even as the blessed David singeth concerning Him in the Psalm (xc), saying, “Lord, Thou hast been an abiding place for us throughout all generations,” that is to say, “Thou hast made us to have our abiding place in Thy compassion.” And, when entreating God on behalf of the redemption of the children of men, David said, “Remember Thy Church, which Thou didst acquire in olden time ” (Ps. lxxiv. 2), that is to say, “[Remember] Thy compassion, which Thou art about to spread over our feeble race.” Eden is the Holy Church, and the Paradise which was in it is the land of rest, and the inheritance of life, which God hath prepared for all the holy children of men. And because [Fol. 6b, col. 1] Adam was priest, and king, and prophet, God brought him into Paradise that he might minister in Eden, the p. 63 Holy Church, even as the blessed man Moses testifieth concerning him, saying, “That he might serve God by means of priestly ministration with praise, and that he might keep that commandment which had been entrusted to him by the compassion of God” (Gen. ii. 15, 16 ?). And God made Adam and Eve to dwell in Paradise. True is this word, and it proclaimeth the truth: That Tree of Life which was in the midst of Paradise prefigured the Redeeming Cross, which is the veritable Tree of Life, and this it was that was fixed in the middle of the earth.

[SATAN’S ATTACK ON ADAM AND EVE.]

And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were happy and joyful in Paradise, that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath. And he went and took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up, and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden] whereon was Paradise [Fol. 6b, col. 2]. Now, why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein? Because he knew that his appearance was foul, and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before him. Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird–now the bird that can learn the speech of men p. 64 is called “babbaghah” (i.e. parrot)–first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird. He then beginneth to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man, it turneth round, and when it seeth its own form [reflected] in the mirror, it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it. Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure, and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it, and it becometh eager to learn, and to speak Greek. In this manner (i.e. with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke to her) did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent, and he watched for the opportunity, and [when] he saw Eve by herself [Fol. 7a, col. 1], he called her by her name. And when she turned round towards him, she saw her own form [reflected] in him, and she talked to him; and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding).

And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it, and she plucked the fruit of disobedience from the tree of transgression of the command, and she ate. Then immediately she found herself stripped naked, and she saw the hatefulness of her shame, and she ran away p. 65 naked, and hid herself in another tree, and covered her nakedness with the leaves thereof. And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her, and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten, and he also did eat thereof. And when he had eaten he also became naked, and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the leaves of the fig-trees; and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three [Fol. 7a, col. 2] hours. At mid-day they received [their] sentence of doom. And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees, that is to say, of the bark of the trees, because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks, and they were softer than the byssus and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made. And God dressed them in this soft skin, which was thus spread over a body of infirmities.

[NOTES.–The Fathers of the Ethiopian Church emphasize the difficulty which Satan found in entering Paradise. He knew that he could not carry out his plan for ruining Adam if he entered Paradise in his own form, and he decided that he must assume the form of some bird or animal or reptile if he was to succeed. He applied to the white bird Arzel, and the green bird Besel, and a red bird, but each refused to take him to the place where Eve was. Then he applied to p. 66 the elephant, and the lion, and the leopard, and the hyena, and the wild boar; the first four refused point blank to do what Satan wished, and the wild boar attempted to gore him with his tusks. On this Satan took to flight. He then went to the animal Sereg, which was commonly known as the “digger of graves,” but this animal refused to help him, and then Satan approached the animal called “Taman,” “the front part of which was like a camel’s foal.” This creature agreed to help him, and, mounted on his back, Satan entered Paradise and stood before Eve. The serpent became spokesman for him, and Eve hearkened to him and ate of the fruit. According to the “Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth,” the tree was called “Sezen,” and each fruit cluster contained, 150,000 grains, or berries. It is described as a large and handsome tree, and it has been identified with the “Sendâlê,” or sandal-wood tree. According to the same authorities, the Tree of Life was the prototype of the Cross on which our Lord was crucified.]

[Adam’s stay in Paradise.]

At the third hour of the day Adam and Eve ascended into Paradise, and for three hours they enjoyed the good things thereof; for three hours they were in shame and disgrace, and at the p. 67 ninth hour their expulsion from Paradise took place. And as they were going forth sorrowfully, God spake unto Adam, and heartened him, and said unto him, “Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for I will restore unto thee thine inheritance. Behold, see how greatly I have loved thee, for though I have cursed the earth for thy sake, yet have I withdrawn thee from the operation of the curse. As for the serpent [Fol. 7b, col. 1], I have fettered his legs in his belly, and I have given him the dust of the earth for food; and Eve have I bound under the yoke of servitude. Inasmuch as thou hast transgressed my commandments get thee forth, but be not sad. After the fulfilment of the times which I have allotted that you shall be in exile outside [Paradise], in the land which is under the curse, behold, I will send my Son. And He shall go down [from heaven] for thy redemption, and He shall sojourn in a Virgin, and shall put on a body [of flesh], and through Him redemption and a return shall be effected for thee. But command thy sons, and order them to embalm thy body after thy death with myrrh, cassia, and stakte. And they shall place thee in this cave, wherein I am making you to dwell this day, until the time when your expulsion shall take place from the regions of Paradise to that earth which is outside it. And whosoever shall be left in those days shall take p. 68 thy body with him, and [Fol. 7b, col. 2] shall deposit it on the spot which I shall show him, in the centre of the earth; for in that place shall redemption be effected for thee and for all thy children.” And God revealed unto Adam everything which the Son would suffer on behalf of him.

[Adam’s expulsion from Paradise.] And when Adam and Eve had gone forth from Paradise, the door of Paradise was shut, and a cherub bearing a two-edged sword stood by it. [According to the Book of the Bee, the cherub, or, as some think, a “terrible form endowed with a body,” was armed with a spear and sword, each being made of fire.] And Adam and Eve went down in . . . . . . . of spirit over the mountains of Paradise, and they found a cave in the top of the mountain, and they entered and hid themselves therein. [NOTES.–When Adam and Eve left Paradise they no longer had fruit and wine and bread and flesh to live upon, and they subsisted on cooked grain and vegetables and the herbs of the earth, of which they ate sparingly. Moreover, the four-footed beasts and fowl and reptiles rebelled against them, and some of them became enemies and adversaries unto them. Book of the Bee (chapter xvii. https://sacred-texts.com/chr/bb/bb17.htm)] p. 69 Now Adam and Eve were virgins, and Adam wished to know Eve his wife. And Adam took from the skirts of the mountain of Paradise, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense, and he placed them in the cave, and he blessed the cave, and consecrated it that it might be the house of prayer for himself and his sons. And he called the cave “ME`ÂRATH GAZZÊ” (i.e. “CAVE OF TREASURES”) [Fol. 8a, col. 1].

So Adam and Eve went down from that holy mountain [of Eden] to the slopes which were below it, and there Adam knew Eve his wife. [A marginal note in the manuscript says that Adam knew Eve thirty years after they went forth from Paradise.] And Eve conceived and brought forth Cain and Lebhûdhâ, his sister, with him; and Eve conceived again and she brought forth Hâbhîl (Abel) and Kelîmath, his sister, with him. [The Book of the Bee makes Kelîmath the twin sister of Cain, and Lebhûdhâ the twin sister of Abel.] And when the children grew up, Adam said unto Eve, “Let Cain take to wife Kelîmath, who was brought forth with Abel, and let Abel take to wife Lebhûdhâ, who was brought forth with Cain.” And Cain said unto Eve his mother, “I will take to wife my twin sister Lebhûdhâ, and let Abel take to wife his twin sister Kelîmath”; now Lebhûdhâ was beautiful. When Adam heard these words, which were p. 70 exceedingly displeasing unto him, he said, “It will be a transgression of the commandment for thee to take [to wife] thy sister, who was born with thee. Nevertheless, take ye to yourselves fruits of trees, and the young of sheep, and get ye up to the top [Fol. 8a, col. 2] of this holy mountain. Then go ye into the Cave of Treasures, and offer ye up your offerings, and make your prayers, and then ye shall consort with your wives.” And it came to pass that when Adam, the first priest, and Cain and Abel, his sons, were going up to the top of the mountain, Satan entered into Cain [and persuaded him] to kill Abel, his brother, because of Lebhûdhâ; and because his offering was rejected and was not accepted before God, whilst the offering of Abel was accepted, Cain’s jealousy of his brother Abel was increased. And when they came down to the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and he killed him with a blow from a stone of flint. Then straightway Cain received the doom of death, instead of curses, and he became a fugitive and a wanderer all the days of his life. And God drove him forth into exile in a certain part of the forest of Nôdh, and Cain took to wife his twin sister and made the place of his abode there.

[NOTES.–Adam carried Abel to the Cave of Treasures and buried him therein, and he set by p. 71 the side of the body a lamp which burned day and night. Abel was fifteen and a half years old when Cain, who was seventeen and a half years old, murdered him. Adam and Eve mourned for Abel, in great grief, for one hundred and forty days. Book of Adam and Eve (II, 1.)]

Commentary

An examination of the Christian fables such as the above demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that Muhammad had ripped his fictions off from them. For instance, the assertion that Satan was jealous of Adam, which is why he refused to worship him as God’s image, or that God had created Adam with his own hands are all found in the Quran:

When thy Lord said to the angels, ‘See, I am creating a mortal of a clay. When I have shaped him, and breathed My spirit in him, fall you down, bowing before him!‘ Then the angels bowed themselves all together, save Iblis; he waxed proud, and was one of the unbelievers. Said He, ‘Iblis, what prevented thee to bow thyself before that I created with My own hands? Hast thou waxed proud, or art thou of the lofty ones?’ Said he, ‘I am better than he; Thou createdst me of tire, and him Thou createdst of clay.’ Said He, ‘Then go thou forth hence; thou art accursed. Upon thee shall rest My curse, till the Day of Doom.’ Said he, ‘My Lord, respite me till the day they shall be raised.’ Said He, ‘Thou art among the ones that are respited until the day of the known time.’ Said he, ‘Now, by Thy glory, I shall pervert them all together, excepting those Thy servants among them that are sincere.’ Said He, ‘This is the truth, and the truth I say; I shall assuredly fill Gehenna with thee, and with whosoever of them follows thee, all together.’ S. 38:71-85 Arberry

Therefore, the disbelievers were right that Muhammad’s “revelations” were nothing more than the myths of the ancients which he claimed were sent down to him from his god:

The unbelievers say, ‘This is naught but a calumny he has forged, and other folk have helped him to it.’ So they have committed wrong and falsehood. They say, ‘Fairy-tales of the ancients that he has had written down, so that they are recited to him at the dawn and in the evening.’ Say: ‘He sent it down, who knows the secret in the heavens and earth; He is Allforgiving, All-compassionate.’ S. 25:4-6 Arberry