is more appropriate than indicating all the categories of creation, even though it would not be invalid for it to indicate all kinds of communities, for the reasons we have described.

And He—exalted is His praise—means by His statement, “{Then He presented them}”: then He presented the possessors of the names to the angels.

The exegetes have differed regarding the interpretation of His statement, {Then He presented them to the angels}, similar to their difference regarding His statement, {And He taught Adam the names, all of them}. I shall mention the statement of those from whom a view on this has reached us.

661 - Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated to us, he said: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, he said: Bishr ibn ʿUmāra narrated to us, from Abū Rawq, from al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Ibn ʿAbbās: “{Then He presented them to the angels}”: then He presented these names—meaning the names of all things that He had taught Adam, belonging to the categories of all creation. (1)

662 - And Mūsā narrated to me, he said: ʿAmr narrated to us, he said: Asbāṭ narrated to us, from al-Suddī in a report he mentioned, from Abū Mālik, and from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās—and from Murra, from Ibn Masʿūd, and from some people among the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him: “{Then He presented them}”: then He presented the creation to the angels. (2)

663 - And Yūnus narrated to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: The names of his offspring, all of them; He took them from his back. He said: Then He presented them to the angels. (3)

664 - And al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā narrated to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, from Qatāda: “{Then He presented them}”: He said: He taught him the name of everything, then He presented those names to the angels. (4)