'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah An-Nas

Ibn Abbas and others said: It is Medinan. And Qatadah said: It is Makkan.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Say, 'I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind'﴾ ﴿The King of mankind﴾ ﴿The God of mankind﴾ ﴿From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws﴾ ﴿Who whispers in the breasts of mankind﴾ ﴿Of jinn and mankind﴾

'The whisperer' is a name from the names of the devil. It is also what the desires of the soul whisper and entice. This is the passion that a person is forbidden from following, and he is commanded to disobey it. And the anger that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, advised to abandon and leave when a man said to him: 'Advise me.' He said: 'Do not become angry.' The man said: 'Increase me.' He said: 'Do not become angry.'

And His saying, exalted is He: 'the one who withdraws' means: the one who retreats, sometimes hidden. This is in the case of the devil, who is capable of it when the servant remembers Allah, the Most High, and seeks refuge, and remembers and sees, as He said, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, those who fear Allah, when an impulse touches them from the devil, they remember, and at once they see clearly﴾ [Al-A'raf: 201]. And if we assume this in desires and anger and similar matters, then it withdraws by reminding the blaming soul, and by the presence of the angel, and that shyness restrains, and faith restrains with strength. So those moving distractions retreat and are subdued in the one who is aided by the success of Allah. And these two meanings of whispering are included in His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Of jinn and mankind﴾, meaning from the devils and the human soul.

It also appears that His saying, exalted is He: 'and mankind' refers to those who whisper with their deceptions from among humans, and call to falsehood. In this, he is like the devil.

And all of them read: 'mankind' without inclination. And Al-Duri reported from Al-Kisai that he inclined the noon of 'mankind' in the case of lowering, but does not incline in the case of raising and accusative.

And Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he went to his bed, would gather his two hands, and blow into them, and recite: 'Say, He is Allah, One,' and the two seeking refuge, then he would wipe with them as much of his body as he could, beginning with his head and face and what came forward of his body. He did this three times.' And Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'Indeed, among mankind are devils, and among the jinn are devils, so seek refuge with Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, from the devils of mankind and jinn.'

The tafsir of Surah [An-Nas] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.