The creation of man
From the Farsi book: Good Stories for Good Children
There was God and nothing else. God created the angles and the heavens and the earth. The angels worshiped God and God created all plants and animals at a time when no human existed.
One day God told the angels, “I want to create a representative on earth made of water & soil that will be wiser and smarter than all creations.”
The angels replied, “You want to create those who will commit to corruption and spill each other’s blood on earth while we love and worship you.”
God said, “I know something about creating man that you don’t and once I create them you all must bow down to them.”
So, God created man out of water and soil and injected his own spirit and brought man to life.
All the angles bowed down to man as God had instructed except Eblease,(Satan) who was a Jinn and not an angel, did not bow down to man. Eblease, was made from smokeless fire and worshiped God on daily basis and so much so that God accepted him to be on the same level as the angels.
God asked, Eblease, why are you refusing my instruction and not joining the angels in bowing down to man,”
Eblease replied, “I will not because I am better than man. I am made from fire and man is made from water and soil. I can’t accept man to be more worthy than I”
God said, “Since you did not obey, you will be removed from the threshold of the angelic world.”
Eblease replied, “Dear God, I have worshiped you a very long time and now you are removing me. My wish is that you don’t destroy me and give me time while man and his children live upon earth that I may exist and see the future of man.”
God said, “you may live but you are cursed until the day of resurrection.”
Eblease became relieved when he got his promise from God, he said, “dear God, now that I may live I will began my work and mislead man and present all bad things as being good and lead man to the wrong path.”
God replied, “everyone should understand
themselves, those who believe in me and not forget me will become righteous and you will not have control over those people, unless they forget me and have been tricked and mislead by you than their place is in fires of hell.”
Adam and Eve in heaven
From the book: Good Stories for Good Children
After man was created and blessed with intellect and incite, God taught him words, names and the secrets of the universe. The angles believed in God’s mighty creation. And so, God decided to allow Adam and his spouse Eve to live in heaven.
Eve was created from the same clay (water and soil) as Adam so that she becomes his companion and God blessed them with all kinds of edible foods in heaven except one that was forbidden for them to indulge in.
God said “if you limit yourself and reframe from eating the fruit of this tree all the happiness and pleasures will be bestowed upon you. You will never feel hunger, thirst, clothless, fatigue. But if you allow yourselves to eat the fruit of this tree you will feel oppression. Be careful of Satin and do not be deceived by him. Satin is your enemy and is malevolent and has ill will towards you.
Days passed and Adam and Eve were very content living their lives in the heavenly world.
Satin could not fathom all the blessing and freedom Adam and Eve had. He wanted to deprive them of their blessings but he could not because God did not give Satin the power to directly do harm. Only by talking, trickery and deception could he manipulate Adam and Eve and submit to his will.
So Satin began his work. Each day he would posses a new form. One day he showed up as a Peacock on Adam and Eves path.
“what a beautiful bird.” said Eve.
“of corse I am beautiful. You can be just as beautiful if you let yourself.” Satin replied.
Next day he changed his form to a strong man with wings and flew over there head.
“How impressive to be able to fly” Eve said.
“Of corse it’s impressive, you can be just like me if you choose.” Satin replied.
So it continued. Satin is of great affectation and pretense. He would present himself in all forms and amaze Adam and Eve and utter the words ” you can have a better existence than the one you have now.”
One day Eve told Adam. ” Do you know what I think?
” what do you think.” Adam replied.
Eve continued. ” with all the respect and glory we have, we are helpless and there are others who have better things than us. They can fly, walk on water or change their color and we are content with being humans.
Slowly jealousy and greed took over Adam and Eve and their wishes and expectations grew.
So, than Satin presented himself in a shape of an old man in worship and everyday he would burst out crying after his worship.
One day Eve saw Satin crying and felt sorry for him and asked.
” why are you crying so? What sorrow you carry?”
” I don’t have any sorrow for myself, I just feel sorry for you.” Satin answered.
” why?” Eve asked.
“because, you have so much confident in yourself but you have no idea about anything.” Satin answered.
“how so?” Eve asked.
” well, you eat the fruit and rome the heavens, but you have no idea about the outcome of your miserable lives.” Satin answered.
“how is that?” Eve asked again.
” you can be like a Peacock, shining green and blue, or fly like the angels, or a swan floating in water. You are capable of doing so much more.” Satin Shook his head and continued. “What you have now is not a life, it’s a joke and in the end your life is short but the angels are here forever. Look at me, I have lived hundreds of years but one day your life will come to an end. And yet you have no appreciation for the limited time you have. Look at the animals, they are free to do anything and eat anything but you don’t have permission to do or eat certain things. This is no life or freedom.” Satin said.
Eve sighed and said. “could it be that all our wishes can come true and be better than we are and obtain eternal life.”
Satin said. ” of corse it’s possible, the will to change is in your hands.
” how for example.” Eve asked.
” for example, all the fruits in heaven are available for you to eat but one tree in the middle is forbidden and yet, the fruit from that tree is very nutritious.” Satin said.
Eve replied. ” oh, but only this one is forbidden.”
Adam agreed. ” yes, only this one is forbidden.”
Satin continued. ” Yes, but that’s where the problem lies. The one thing that is important is forbidden and it’s always like that. Things that taste good, bring happiness and joy. Oh well, it’s non of my business, but if you eat from that tree all things become possible. Eternal life, power, beauty and you will want for nothing. All the goodness is in the property of that tree.”
Eve said. ” That is very strange. I can’t believe it.”
Satin said. ” that is the exact reason why I feel sorry for you. You will not take the word of a wise man and so you continue living your simple lives.”
Adam and Eve said. ” could it be that you might be lying. Maybe Satin has mislead you with bad information.”
Satin said. “oh, may Satin be cursed and struck down. I have been worshiping for hundreds of years and yet you think of me as a lier. If you don’t believe me I will swear on my honor that all good things are within the fruit of that tree. God just does not want you to over eat but there is nothing wrong with having a small portion.”
Eve believed what Satin said to be true and replied. “in that case we will have some. We want to be much better than we are now.”
So, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree. That tree was the tree of sin and was like sweet wheat bread and sweet Grapes.
Adam and Eve were so consumed by Satin’s words that they forgot Gods instructions and allowed themselves to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.
Satin became very happy and began to laugh loudly.
At that moment Adam and Eves lives changed.
At once their heavenly clothes fell off their bodies and they felt shame and covered themselves with a leaf from a fig tree.
They heard the voice of God. ” why did you not obey and commit sin. Didn’t I say, do not fall into Satin’s trap?”
Adam and Eve said with regret. ” God, we made a mistake and listened to Satin and persecuted ourselves, if you don’t forgive us there will be great loss brought upon ourselves.
God instructed. “since you did not appreciate heaven and you proved to yourselves that you can be mislead by Satin and bring harm to yourselves, you have to go live on earth. You and Satin will be enemies and until the day of resurrection you will be tempted by him. Go, go and from now on the responsibility is on you to work and provide for yourselves. Don’t commit sin among yourselves. Those who do will not be blessed and those who regret their sinful actions will repent to God.”
Adam and Eve on earth
From the book: Good stories for Good children
Continued from Adam and Eve in heaven.
God instructed. “since you did not appreciate heaven and you proved to yourselves that you can be mislead by Satin and bring harm to yourselves, you have to go live on earth. You and Satin will be enemies and until the day of resurrection you will be tempted by him. Go, go and from now on the responsibility is on you to work and provide for yourselves. Don’t commit sin among yourselves. Those who do will not be blessed and those who regret their sinful actions will repent to God.”
Adam and Eve were sent down to earth.
They say Adam for years shed regretful tears and slowly got used to the earthly living and with each others help created a life for themselves. They started making clothes, first from the leaves of trees than out of animal skin. They started to farm with help of cattle. First the caves were their home until they learned to build a homes. They learned and created new things every day.
They say, one day Adam was plowing the field with the help of his cow. The cow did not cooperate and Adam hit him with a stick.
Cow said. “why did you hit me?”
Adam said. ” because your not cooperating.”
Cow said.” your an ungrateful person. You did not cooperate in heaven but God did not hit you, you have no right to hit me either.”
Adam regretted what he did and asked God. ” Dear God I have admitted to my sin and asked for repentance and trying to have tolerance. Do something so that these animals do not judge me also.”
From that day forward animals were unable to talk.
Adam and Eves children
From the book: Good stories for Good Children
Adam and Eve started a family and were submerged into human life and their yearning for heaven became somewhat less
Eve had two sets of twins, two boys and two girls. The first set they named the boy Habeel and in the second set the boy was names Ghabeel and Ghabeel’s twin sister was more beautiful than Habeel’s twin sister.
Time came when the boys were to be married in order to populate the earth. With Adam’s permission, the two brothers were to marry each other’s sister. There were no other human at that time and God did not make such marriage a sin.
Habeel did as Adam instructed but Ghabeel was not satisfied.
Satin took this opportunity to tempt Ghabeel that his own twin sister is more beautiful and so he became jealous of his brother’s wife.
Adam tried to give Ghabeel advise, not to confuse beauty with goodness. But Ghabeel did not listen and Satin weaved his web tighter by saying. “your father does not want to give you what’s rightfully yours. It does not make sense that Habeel’s wife is more beautiful and you have to settle for His twin sister. Remember that beauty is everything and nothing else matters.
Ghabeel was very resentful towards his brother and they often argued. Until one day Adam said.”because non of us have any ill-intentions and God only know the truth lets do something positive. In your heart each one of you pray and ask God for what you want than a sacrifice will be made and I will ask God to send down flames of fire as a sign indicating which brother gets which wife and we all have to obey and respect Gods decision.
Both brothers agreed.
Habeel’s job was attending to the sheep so, he went to the herd and picked the nicest sheep and brought it to the sacrifice site.
Ghabeel’s job is planting the field so, he went to the discarded wheat plants and picked the most wilted and brown color wheat and tied a rope on the stem and brought it to the sacrifice site.
Both brothers kneeled down to pray and ask God for what they wanted. The fire came and burned Habeel’s sheep. Adam said. ” your destiny has been shown and Habeel is to marry Ghabeel’s sister.
Ghabeel did not accept the outcome, even though he did not posses a pure heart and he was deceitful in his choice of sacrifice, he said. “the grace was blind and the sacrifice was incorrect. I don’t understand why you deny me to choose the wife of my liking.”
Adam said. “my son, she shared in the same milk you drank and it’s not proper. This is the beginning and no other human exists, God allows us to marry the other’s sister and in future this will be a sin. Each generation developers its own structure.”
Ghabeel insisted. “I have to find out why it’s a sin, why it’s not proper and why each generation develops its own structure.”
Adam said. “there is absolutely no reason why you should know everything. God’s work comes from wisdom and it’s wrong to question God about why this and why that. God knows everything and we all know very little.”
Ghabeel said. “this is unacceptable to me” and turned to Habeel and said. “I will destroy you.”
Habeel said. “but I did not do anything wrong. If you raise your hand on my soul I will not raise mine to your soul. I am scared of God. You will go to fires of hell if you commit such sin.”
Ghabeel could not listen to reason and he held on to the hatred he felt and one day out of jealousy away from his parents eyes he smashed a rock on to Habeel’s head and killed him.
No sooner had he done that he became scared and regretted his actions. He was worried of his father finding out and cursing him.
He decided to hide Habeel’s body but could not think where until he saw a crow braying a dead crow. So he dug the ground and barrier Habeel.
On the way home he felt sick with regret, he could not eat or sleep. He kept cursing himself saying “I have committed the greatest sin. I am lower than the lowest even a crow has more brains than I.”
Several days passed and a Adam was looking everywhere for Habeel and finally asked Ghabeel.
Ghabeel replied. “how should I know. I am not his keeper and you did not in trust him to me.
Adam knew Habeel’s disappearance is in the hands of Ghabeel. Adam looked at Ghabeel with anger and said.”your a bad person. Your involved in your brothers disappearance, death is what you deserve.”
Gaobeel became embarrassed looking into his father’s angry face. He became frightened of death. As each day passed Ghabeel got more and more regretful. Ghabeel felt ashamed and he was scared of confrontation with his father and he hated himself and would began crying uncontrollably. He was so distraught he decided to leave and headed for the mountains. Ghabeel was homeless for years.
Adam and Eve lost both their sons and were saddened. Each day they would remember the peace they had in heaven but they had no choice but to be patient.
Satin’s Invention
From the book: Good Stories for Good Children
For a long Time Ghabeel was homeless and due to the shame he felt towards his family he was not content.
One day Ghabeel was sitting in a field crying and Satan took this opportunity to weave his trickery. “I will now go and finish what I started.” Satan said to himself.
People who are distraught and have no place of belonging are good candidates for being mislead.
Satan transformed himself into an old man and came sat beside Ghabeel. “my dear child why do you cry so.”
Ghabeel said.”oh, where do I start, my heart aches, they wanted to do wrong by me and I listened to Satan and spilled my brother’s blood and deserted my parents. Nobody loves me anymore, I am scared, very scared, no where to go.
Satan replied.”that’s not so child. First, it was not Satan’s fault, you killed your brother out of your own greed and jealousy. Secondly, nothing is resolved if you choose to sit here moaning and feeling sorry for yourself. God is kind and loves everyone. Didn’t you see how God send the crow to show you how to berry your brother. This alone is a sign that God loves you and crows are a representative of God.
Satan wanted to mislead people and invent idle worshiping among them that’s why he is speaking in favor of God.
Ghabeel asked. “oh, you are talking about that black crow? He is God’s representative?
“Yes my dear.” Satan replies. “what do you think it was? You see , I always carry a wooden crow with me, that’s why my thoughts are always with God and I am not scared of anything.” Satan said and pulled out a black wooden crow from beneath his cloak. “see, here it is, look. If you carry a crow with you at all times you will never be scared and your heart will settle. Do you want me to make one for you?”
Than Satan picked up a pile of clay, molded it into a crow and handed it to Ghabeel and left.
Out of desperation Ghabeel believed what Satan said and each day Ghabeel would hold the crow in his hand and say. “God, I know I did wrong and you are very forgiving. Please settle my aching heart.”
Many years passed and Adam and Eve’s children grew into a large number. Ghabeel befriended some of them and would show his crow to them and say.”if you get scared, sad or desperate make one of these and stare at it to make you feel better.
Those who were wise did not believe Ghabeel but others followed his way until slowly the idols grew and people make idol lambs, cows and other animals and would say. ” we can’t see God but these idols will remind us of God.
Among Adams children there was one man by the name of Sheeth who became Adam’s successor. When the news travelled to Sheeth, he would advise people.”these rumors are false. How could a crow or a cow bring salvation to people. God’s representative is knowledge and wisdom and out of all God’s creation Man is the most honorable because he is given intellect.”
People would say in reply.”ok, we will make Man into an idol.”
And so Satan’s invention among those who have been misled grew and many years passed and Noah came to lead People to righteousness.