'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "O you who have believed, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. And whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, then indeed, he commands what is immoral and wrong. And if it had not been for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have ever been purified. But Allah purifies whom He wills. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." This address is general for all believers. 'Footsteps' is the plural of 'footstep,' which refers to what is between the two feet in walking. So the meaning is: do not walk in his paths and ways of vile actions. And Mundir ibn Sa'id said: it is permissible that 'footsteps' is the plural of 'mistake' from the vile, and the hamzah was softened, so it was pronounced as 'footsteps.' The majority read it with a dammah on the 'ta' of 'footsteps,' while Aasim and Al-A'mash read it with it being silent. The majority read: "not one was purified" with the kaf being softened, meaning: he did not find guidance, nor submit, nor recognize righteousness. Abu Haywah, Al-Husn, and Al-A'mash read: "not one was purified" with the kaf being strengthened, meaning: his purification for you and his cleansing and guidance is only by His favor, not by your deeds and your precautions from sins. Then He mentioned, exalted and glorified is He, that He purifies whom He wills from those for whom happiness has been decreed, and whose righteous deeds are a sign of his preceding happiness for him. Then He informed, exalted and glorified is He, that He is All-Hearing of all their sayings and words, whether slander or otherwise, and All-Knowing of the truth of that from its falsehood, and there is no forgetting or error upon Him in that.