Translation of the meanings Ayah 61 Surah Al-Isrā’ - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 61

وَإِذۡ قُلۡنَا لِلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسۡجُدُواْ لِأٓدَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ قَالَ ءَأَسۡجُدُ لِمَنۡ خَلَقۡتَ طِينٗا

(61) ^[3630]˹Mention˺ We said to the angels: “Prostrate to Adam!^[3631]” They all prostrated except Iblīs^[3632]. He said: “Should I prostrate to whom You created ˹as˺ clay!”^[3633]

[3630] To ease the Noble Messenger’s (ﷺ) mind at that very difficult time in the course of his mission, given the great opposition he was facing, God Almighty reminds him of the reason why the Makkan idolaters are being so adamant in their stand against the call of Faith; they are ‘chewed up’ by the Devil. He manages to get under their skin through envy and arrogance very much like what he felt when he saw God’s honouring of Adam (عليه السلام) (cf. al-Rāzī).
[3631] The command to the angels to bow down to Adam is an act of worship to God and reverence to Adam who was honoured by God Himself. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī.)
[3632] Iblīs is Satan. Etymologically, iblīs comes from iblās, i.e. having no hope in good things, grief and sadness caused by utter despair. (Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, p. 23; al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, p. 143.)
[3633] Clay is the original substance of human creation (cf. 15: 26, 55: 14, 37: 11); Adam, the father of humanity, was created from clay, processed earth. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, Abū al-Suʿūd, al-Saʿdī.)