Surah An-Nas

A Summary

Allah says:

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ﴿١﴾

مَلِكِ النَّاسِ﴿٢﴾

إِلَهِ النَّاسِ﴿٣﴾

Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of An-Nas,

The King of An-Nas,

The God of An-Nas,

These are three attributes from the attributes of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic. They are:

- lordship,

- sovereignty and

- divinity.

Thus,

- He is the Lord of everything,

- the King of everything and

- the God of everything.

All things

- are created by Him,

- owned by Him, and

- subservient to Him.

These are three attributes from the attributes of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic. They are lordship, sovereignty and divinity. Thus, He is the Lord of everything, the King of everything and the God of everything. All things are created by Him, owned by Him, and subservient to Him. Therefore, He commands whoever is seeking protection to seek refuge with the One Who has these attributes from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.

This (the whisperer) is the devil that is assigned to man. For verily, there is not any of the Children of Adam except that he has a companion that beautifies wicked deeds for him. This devil will go to any lengths to confuse and confound him. The only person who is safe is he Whom Allah protects.

It is confirmed in the Sahih that he (the Prophet) said,

مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا قَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ

There is not a single one of you except that his companion (a devil) has been assigned to him.

They (the Companions) said, "What about you, O Messenger of Allah!''

He replied,

نَعَمْ،

إِلَّا أَنَّ اللهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْلَمَ، فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ

Yes.

However, Allah has helped me against him and he has accepted Islam. Thus, he only commands me to do good.

4. 'From the evil of the whisperer,

The word waswas in waswas-il-khannas means the one who whispers over and over again, and waswasa means to whisper into someone's heart an evil suggestion over and over again in such a way or ways that the one who is being inspired may not feel that the whisperer is whispering an evil suggestion into his heart. Waswasah by itself suggests repetition just as zalzalah contains the meaning of repetitive movement. Since man is not tempted by just one attempt but effort has to be made over and over again to seduce and tempt him, such an attempt is called waswasah and the tempter waswas. As for the word khannas, it is derived from khunus, which means to hide after appearing and to retreat after coming into view. Since khannas is the intensive form, it would imply the one who behaves thus very frequently. Thus when once he fails in his attempt to whisper evil, he withdraws, then he again returns to make the second and the third and the next attempt over and over again.

Bukhari and Muslim report that once when the Prophet was in seclusion (i'tikaf) in the mosque, his wife Safiyyah went to see him. When she left, the Prophet accompanied her to his house. On the way he met two Companions from Ansar who were passing by. They sped up their pace when they saw him. He called them and said, "This is my wife Safiyyah bint Huyay." They said, "Subhanallah! O Messenger of Allah, why are you saying this?" The Prophet said, "Satan flows inside man like blood. I feared, may be he put bad thoughts about me in your minds."

The whisperer (Al-Waswas) who withdraws.) "The devil who is squatting (perched) upon the heart of the Son of Adam. So when he becomes absentminded and heedless he whispers. Then, when he remembers Allah he withdraws.''

Al-Hafidh Abu Ya'la Musily quoted a Hadith which reported the Prophet as saying: "Satan puts his hand on the heart of man. If he celebrates the remembrance of Allah he removes his hand and if he forgets Allah, Satan overcomes his heart fully. This is the 'evil of the whisperer.' "

Ibn 'Abbas, says that the Satan is lying in wait for man. When he forgets Allah, he starts whispering, and when he begins the remembrance of Allah, he retreats.

Sulayman said: "I am told that in happiness and sorrow Satan bores into the heart of man, i.e., he deludes him. If man remembers Allah, he flees away." Ibn 'Abbas, also says that Satan preaches evil and when man obeys him, he leaves him.

Mujahid and Qatadah also said this.

Al-Mu'tamir bin Sulayman reported that his father said, "It has been mentioned to me that Shaytan is Al-Waswas. He blows into the heart of the Son of Adam when he is sad and when he is happy. But when he (man) remembers Allah, Shaytan withdraws.'' Al-'Awfi reported from Ibn 'Abbas;

(The whisperer.) "He is Shaytan. He whispers and then when he is obeyed, he withdraws.''

5. 'Who whispers in the breasts of mankind.

6. 'Of jinn and men.' "

Is this specific for the Children of Adam as is apparent, or is it general, including both mankind and Jinns?

There are two views concerning this. (5,6) The expression "Who whispers in the breasts of mankind" may be interpreted in two ways. One interpretation is that Satan whispers in the chests of people belonging to the human race or the race of jinn. The other interpretation is that the devils from among the human race and the jinn whisper in the chests of other people. At another place Allah says:

"And so We appointed for every Prophet an enemy - devils among mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion ... " [Al-Qur'an 6:112]

Abu Dharr reported that once he went to the mosque and sat with the Prophet. He asked me, "Did you pray?" When I said no, he said, "Offer two rak'ah." When I again sat after finishing the prayer, he said, "Abu Dharr, seek refuge against the devils among men and jinn." I asked, "Are there devils among men also?" He said, "Yes." I asked him, "O Messenger of Allah, which is the greatest verse in the Qur'an?" He said, "The Verse of the Throne - (2:255)." [Imam Ahmad. This Hadith has also been reported by Nisa'i, Abu Hatim and others]

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn 'Abbas said, "A man came to the Prophet and said, 'O Messenger of Allah! Sometimes I say things to myself that I would rather fall from the sky than say (aloud openly). '

The Prophet said,

(Allah is Most Great! Allah is Most Great! All praise is due to Allah Who sent his (Shaytan's) plot back as only a whisper.)'' Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded this Hadith.

This is the end of the Tafsir. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of all that exists.