﴿ فَأَكَلَا مِنْهَا فَبَدَتْ لَهُمَا سَوْءَٰتُهُمَا وَطَفِقَا يَخْصِفَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مِن وَرَقِ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ۚ وَعَصَىٰٓ ءَادَمُ رَبَّهُۥ فَغَوَىٰ ﴾

“And so the two ate [of the fruit] thereof: and thereupon they became conscious of their nakedness and began to cover themselves with pieced-together leaves from the garden. And [thus] did Adam disobey his Sustainer, and thus did he fall into grievous error.”

God kept Adam, with his spouse, in paradise, where he was freely and amply provided with all the necessities of life – food, clothing, water and shelter. Adam was not required to do anything in return for these blessings, unlike in the present world where man has to earn all these things by his own hard labour. In paradise, the fruit of a certain tree was prohibited for Adam. But Satan came and described to him the eternal advantages of this fruit. Adam, influenced by what he said, ate it, then immediately felt that he was naked. This was symbolic of the fact that God had instantly withdrawn the guarantee of providing him with sustenance without his having to earn it by his own labour. Thereafter, on his supplication and repentance, he was pardoned. However, he was removed from a world where God’s bounty had been freely given and sent to a world where he had to earn his living by the sweat of his brow. Such was the beginning of human existence on this earth.