3-minute preview · Hear the full audiobook in the app.
Adam is our opening voice — more natural narrators arriving in the app, insha'Allah.
Who was Adam?
The Story of Adam is the first book in Stories of the Prophets (Qisas al-Anbiya) by Imam Ibn Kathīr, the 14th-century scholar who also wrote the history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah and a widely read commentary on the Qurʾan. Ibn Kathīr died in 774 AH. The book answers a basic question: what do the Qurʾan and the authentic traditions actually say about the first human being and the first prophet, peace be upon him, and what happened to him?
The book opens with a chapter on the creation of Adam, peace be upon him, and follows the Qurʾanic account step by step. Allah tells the angels that He will place a successor on the earth. The angels ask why. Allah teaches Adam the names of all things and has him inform the angels of them. The angels are commanded to prostrate, and Iblis refuses out of arrogance. Adam and his wife are placed in Paradise and told not to approach one tree. Satan causes them to slip, and they are sent down to the earth.
Ibn Kathīr builds the story from the verses themselves, quoting each passage in full before commenting on it, so the listener hears the Qurʾan first and the explanation second. Joyful Muslims also offers The Story of Adam in the Arabic original, and in editions where each passage is read in Arabic, then in English. The same Arabic-first editions are available in Indonesian, Turkish, and Urdu.
Is there an English audiobook of The Story of Adam?
Yes. Joyful Muslims publishes the complete Story of Adam as an English audiobook (about 2 hours), translated from the Arabic, with a word-synced bilingual transcript. It is the story of Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, from Ibn Kathīr's Qisas al-Anbiya, drawn from the Qurʾan and authentic traditions.
Is it free to listen?
The whole library is open to everyone. Every member gets five hours of listening free each month; Joyful+ removes the time limit.
What does it cover?
It covers the creation of Adam, peace be upon him, the teaching of the names, the angels' prostration and the refusal of Iblis, life in Paradise and the forbidden tree, and the descent to the earth. About 2 hours.
Last updated 2026-09-11
Inside the book.
Chapters
Word-synced with the narrator.
The first three minutes are transcribed here. In the app, the Living Manuscript scrolls through the entire book in rhythm with the audio — Arabic alongside English.
Living Manuscript
Listen to the full book in the app for the complete Living Manuscript.
The full, word-synced transcript in Arabic and English is in the app.
