peace and blessings of God be upon him: That Allah, majestic is His praise, said to the angels: "I am placing a successor upon the earth." They said: Our Lord, what will that successor be? He said: He will have offspring who will commit corruption on earth, envy one another, and kill one another. (1) So the interpretation of the verse according to this narration that we mentioned from Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās was: I am placing a successor upon the earth from Me, who will succeed Me in judging among My creation. And that successor is Adam and whoever stands in his place in obedience to Allah and in judging with justice among His creation.
As for the corruption and shedding of blood unjustly, it is from other than His successors, and from other than Adam and whoever stands in his place among the servants of Allah—because they both reported that Allah, majestic is His praise, said to His angels when they asked Him: What is that successor?: He is a successor who will have offspring that commit corruption on earth, envy one another, and kill one another. Thus He attributed corruption and shedding blood unjustly to the offspring of His successor, rather than to him, and excluded His successor from it.
And this interpretation, although differing in one respect regarding the meaning of successor from what was reported from al-Ḥasan, agrees with it in another respect. As for its agreement with it, it is that those who interpret it turn the attribution of committing corruption on the earth and shedding blood therein to someone other than the successor. As for its disagreement with it, it is that they attribute succession to Adam (2) in the sense of Allah appointing him as a successor therein, whereas al-Ḥasan attributes succession to his children in the sense of them succeeding one another and one generation replacing the generation before them, and attributing corruption on earth and shedding blood to the successor.
And what led those who interpreted His statement, "I am placing a successor upon the earth"—in the interpretation mentioned from al-Ḥasan—to say what they said in that regard, is that they said that the angels only said to their Lord—when their Lord said to them: "I am placing a successor upon the earth"—: "Will You place therein one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood?", as an report from them thereby about the successor regarding whom Allah, majestic is His praise, informed that He was
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