In this second quranic version of the Adam story (vv. 11–27; cf. 2.30–39), Adam and his wife (unnamed in the Quran) are commanded not to go near a certain tree (v. 19). Tempted by Satan, they taste of the tree (v. 22). When their Lord calls them to account, they say they have “done ourselves evil” and confess their need for forgiveness (v. 23). This detail of accepting personal responsibility is different from the version of the story in Sūra 2. There Satan simply causes them to slip (2.36).

A third version of the Adam story comes at 20.115–24. See an analysis of the Quran’s Adam stories at 20.121.