@he atlas itch said
"It reminds me of the Islamic tale of Iblis who made a vow to only worship God. When God created mankind He ordered all his angels to bow down and worship this newborn creature. Iblis, because of the vow he had taken, refused this divine command and for that he was punished and cast out of heaven. All of human history since then has been a game being played being God and Iblis, the latter's role being to continually seduce and tempt mankind and thus prove to God that there is nothing divine within humanity (thus confirming his original vow to only worship God)."
Very interesting. What is your source on this? All other references I know of say that Iblis refused to bow down because he simply believed he was better than Adam (being created out of fire, and Adam out of clay), and I cannot find any reference to this vow that he supposedly made.
@Qur'an 7:11-12 said
"And We created you (humans), then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who made prostration.
He said: "What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee?" (Iblis) said: "I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou didst create of clay".]"