His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿And when the devil adorned for them their deeds and said, 'No one will overcome you today from among the people, and indeed, I am a protector for you.' But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, 'Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I see what you do not see. Indeed, I fear Allah, and Allah is severe in punishment.'﴾

﴿When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said, 'Their religion has deluded these.' And whoever relies upon Allah - then indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.﴾

The interpretation: And remember when, and the pronoun in 'for them' refers back to the disbelievers. And the devil is Iblis himself. Al-Mahdawi and others have reported that the adornment in this verse and the subsequent sayings is through whispering and conversation in the souls.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This saying is weakened by the fact that his saying, ﴿And indeed, I am a protector for you﴾ is not something that is conveyed through whispering. The majority have said regarding this based on what has been narrated and confirmed that Iblis came to the disbelievers of Quraysh. In the biographies of Ibn Hisham, it is mentioned that he came to them in Mecca, and in other accounts that he came to them while they were on their way to Badr. They had been struck with fear from Banu Bakr and Kinana due to wars that had occurred between them. Iblis came to them in the form of Suraqa ibn Malik ibn Jusham, who was a leader among them. He said to them, 'Indeed, I am a protector for you, and you will not fear my people, and they are your allies against your objective, and no one will overcome you.' They were pleased with this and proceeded with their plan. He said to them, 'You are fighting for the religion of your forefathers, and you will not lack victory.' It is narrated that when the two groups met, his hand was in the hand of al-Harith ibn Hisham. When he saw the angels, he turned on his heels. Al-Harith said to him, 'Are you fleeing, O Suraqa?' But he did not respond to him. It is narrated that he said to him what the verse implies. It is also narrated that Umair ibn Wahb - or al-Harith ibn Hisham - said to him, 'Where are you, O Suraqa?' But he did not respond and pushed al-Harith in the chest and fled, and defeat occurred. It was reported that Suraqa fled with the people, and this reached Suraqa ibn Malik. He came to Mecca and said to them, 'By Allah, I did not know anything of your affair until your defeat reached me, nor did I see you or was I with you.' And al-Tabari narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that he said: Iblis came on the day of Badr with a group of devils with him. I saw him in the form of a man from Banu Mudlij, and he said: ﴿No one will overcome you today﴾ the verse.

And 'today' is an adverb, and the meaning that works with it is the negation of victory. It is possible that the working meaning is related to 'for you' and it is prevented from working with 'overcome' because it would require that it be 'no one overcoming.'

And his saying: ﴿And indeed, I am a protector for you﴾ means: So you are under my protection and guardianship.

And 'sighted' means: they saw each other. Al-A'mash and Isa ibn Umar read it as 'sighted' in a restricted form. Abu Hatim reported from al-A'mash that he inclined and the 'ra' was softened, then he retracted from that.

And his saying: ﴿He turned on his heels﴾ means: he returned from where he came. The original meaning of turning back in the language is to return in reverse. Zuhair said:

They strike your eggshell when they catch up. They do not retreat when they are called to arms.

Thus, Al-Tabari recited, and in the narration of Al-Asma'i: 'They retreated.' With this, Al-Tabari explained this verse. In that, there is a distance. Indeed, his return in this verse is likened to true retreat. The linguists said: Retreat is refraining from something. It is said: He intended a matter, then he retreated from it. And Ta'abbata Sharran said:

'Indeed, retreating on one's heels is not a mark of honor. Rather, the marks of honor are advancing towards the spear.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: There is no retreat here, but it is fleeing. And Mu'arrij said: 'Retreated' means 'returned' in the language of Sulaym.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And His saying, the Exalted: 'On their heels' indicates that he intended defeat and returning in opposition to his advance. And His saying: 'Indeed, I am disassociated from you' is his abandoning them and separating from them. And His saying: 'Indeed, I see what you do not see' refers to the angels. And it is the evil one who conditioned that there would be no victor among the people. When he saw the angels and the breaking of the norm, he feared and fled. In Al-Muwatta and elsewhere, it is reported that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'The devil was never seen on a day less or more insignificant than on the Day of Arafah due to what he sees of the descent of mercy, except for what he saw on the Day of Badr.' It was said: What did he see, O Messenger of Allah? He said: 'He saw the angels led by Gabriel.' And Al-Hasan said: Iblis saw Gabriel, peace be upon him, leading his horse before the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was wrapped in a cloak and holding the reins.

And His saying: 'Indeed, I fear Allah' was said to be a false excuse, and he was never overtaken by fear. This was said by Qatadah and Ibn Al-Kalbi. And Al-Zajjaj and others said: Rather, he feared what he saw of the matter and its terror, and that it was his day which he was warned about. This is strengthened by the fact that he saw the breaking of the norm and the descent of the angels for battle.

Al-Tabari narrated with his chain that 'when the polytheists fled on the Day of Badr, when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, threw a handful of dust at the faces of the disbelievers, Gabriel, peace be upon him, approached Iblis. When Iblis saw him, and his hand was in the hand of a man from the polytheists, he withdrew his hand and then turned away fleeing. The man said to him: O Suraqa, do you claim that you are our ally? He said: 'Indeed, I see what you do not see,' then he left.'

And His saying, the Exalted: 'When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease say' refers to the actions in 'when' 'he adorned' or 'he retreated,' for that situation was a circumstance for all these matters. The interpreters said: These described as hypocrites and those with a disease in their hearts are indeed from the ranks of the disbelievers. When they overlooked the Muslims and saw their fewness and small number, they said, pointing to the Muslims: 'These have been deceived by their religion,' meaning: they have been deceived, so they have entered themselves into what they cannot bear.

Hypocrisy is more specific than the disease of the heart. This is because the disease of the heart is attributed to the disbeliever, to one who is afflicted by doubt, and to one who is between the two. The hearts are referred to regarding beliefs, as the hearts are their place. It has been narrated in this interpretation from Al-Shabi that a group from among those whom Islam had entered their hearts went out with the polytheists to Badr. Among them were those who were coerced and those who acted deceitfully and flattered. When they approached the Muslims and saw their fewness, they became doubtful and believed that they would be defeated. They said: 'The religion of these people has deceived them.' Mujahid said: Among them was Qays ibn Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughira, Abu Qays ibn Al-Fakih ibn Al-Mughira, Al-Harith ibn Zam'ah ibn Al-Aswad, Ali ibn Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and Al-Asi ibn Umayyah ibn Al-Hajjaj.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: No one from those who witnessed Badr was mentioned as a hypocrite except for what appeared afterward from Ma'tab ibn Qushayr, the brother of Amr ibn Awf. He was the one who said on the day of Uhud: 'If we had any say in the matter, we would not have been killed here.' It is possible that the hypocrites of Medina, when they received news of the departure of Quraysh with a great force, said this about the Muslims. So Allah informed His Prophet of this in this verse.

Then Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, informed that whoever relies on Allah and depends on Him, then the might of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and His wisdom are sufficient for his victory and the strengthening of his supporters. The expression of this meaning has come in the briefest and most eloquent wording.