The Commentary of Verse 75 of Chapter 38 Sad O Iblis! What prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom I created with My Two Hands?

I asked Abu Ja`far al-Baqir (AS) about the Word of the Mighty and High: “O Iblis! What prevented you that you should do obeisance to hi whom I created with My Two Hands?” He (AS) replied: In the Arabic language, the hand symbolized power and bounty. As Allah says: And remember Our servant Dawud, the Possessor of Power. He also says: And the Heaven, We raised it high with power. Here the word hands [aydi] mean power. He says: And whom He has strengthened with an inspiration from Him. Here the word hand [ayyad] means strengthening. It is also said (in Arabic): I have many hands with me from so and so, implying excess and beneficence, and me so and so has a white hand, implying bounty.

I asked al-Rida (AS) about the Word of Allah, the Mighty and High, to Iblis: What prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom I created with My Two Hands? Are you proud?1 He (AS) replied: “It means `With My Omnipotence and My Power.’” The Compiler of this book says: I have heard on of the Shi`ite scholars in Naysabur mentioning that Imams (AS) used to stop at these Word of Allah when mentioning this verse: What prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom I created. Then they would continue with Word of the Mighty and High: “With My Two Hands, are you proud or are you of the exalted ones?”2 He also said: It is like the statement of a person: “With my sword you are fighting with me, and with my spear you are attacking me.” It is as if the Mighty and High is saying that “My Bounties have strengthened your pride and insubordination.”