The creation of Adam, the angels’ prostration, Iblis’s arrogance, his repudiation and his effort to mislead humanity appear across Qur’anic passages. These matters concern more than the origin of humankind. They also teach obedience, the danger of pride, satanic hostility and the nature of moral trial.
Sequence: Adam’s creation; the command concerning prostration; Iblis’s resistance; the consequence of his rebellion; and the temptation facing Adam’s descendants. Individual passages may concentrate on one stage while remaining connected to the overall narrative.
Educational force: a claim to religious merit does not protect a person whose conduct is governed by arrogance and disobedience. Nor does the temptation of evil remove human responsibility for moral choice.
The recurrence of this account permits distinct audiences to be warned against distinct dangers without changing the identity of the core event.