The discourse concerning the Interpretation of the statement of He whose praise is Majestic, reporting on His angels: {They said, "Will You place therein one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood?"}

Abū Jaʿfar said: If a questioner says to us:(1) How did the angels say to their Lord, when He informed them that He was placing a successor in the earth, "Will You place therein one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood," when Ādam had not yet been created, nor had his offspring, so that they might know what they would do by direct observation? Did they know the unseen and thus say that, or did they say what they said based on conjecture? If so, that would be testifying by conjecture and speaking about what they do not know, which is not among their attributes. Or what was the explanation for their saying that to their Lord?(2)