Surah An-Nas
الناس
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ مَلِكِ النَّاسِ إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ
Qul a‘udhu bi Rabbi n-nas · Maliki n-nas · Ilahi n-nas · min sharri l-waswasi l-khannas · alladhi yuwaswisu fi suduri n-nas · mina l-jinnati wa n-nas
Part 1 Commentary on ayat 1–3: The three attributes of Allah
Arabic source
هذه ثلاث صفات من صفات الرب عز وجل: الربوبية، والملك، والإلهية؛ فهو رب كل شيء ومليكه وإلهه، فجميع الأشياء مخلوقة له، مملوكة عبيد له، فأمر المستعيذ أن يتعوذ بالمتصف بهذه الصفات، من شر الوسواس الخناس، وهو الشيطان الموكل بالإنسان، فإنه ما من أحد من بني آدم إلا وله قرين يزين له الفواحش، ولا يألوه جهدا في الخبال. والمعصوم من عصم الله.
These are three of the attributes of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic: Lordship (al-rububiyyah), sovereignty (al-mulk), and divinity (al-uluhiyyah). He is the Lord of all things, their Owner, and their God. All things are His creation, His property, and His servants. So the one seeking refuge is commanded to seek refuge with the One described by these attributes, from the evil of al-waswas al-khannas — which is the devil appointed over the human being. For there is no one among the children of Adam except that he has a qarin (a companion from among the devils) who beautifies indecencies for him and never ceases striving to corrupt him. And the one protected is he whom Allah protects.
Arabic source
«ما منكم من أحد إلا قد وكل به قرينه». قالوا: وأنت يا رسول الله؟ قال: «نعم، إلا أن الله أعانني عليه، فأسلم، فلا يأمرني إلا بخير».
The Prophet ﷺ said: «There is none among you except that a qarin (a companion from the devils) has been appointed over him.» They (the Companions) asked, “Even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied: «Yes, but Allah helped me against him, so he submitted (accepted Islam), and now he commands me only to good.»
Arabic source
عن أنس في قصة زيارة صفية النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو معتكف… فقال رسول الله: «على رسلكما، إنها صفية بنت حيي». فقالا: سبحان الله يا رسول الله. فقال: «إن الشيطان يجري من ابن آدم مجرى الدم، وإني خشيت أن يقذف في قلوبكما شيئا، أو قال: شرا».
Narrated from Anas, in the story of Safiyyah visiting the Prophet ﷺ while he was in i‘tikaf (secluded in the mosque for worship). He went out at night to take her back to her home, when two men of the Ansar passed by. When they saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ they hurried away. He said: «Take it easy, both of you — she is Safiyyah bint Huyayy (my wife).» They said, “Glory be to Allah, O Messenger of Allah!” He said: «Indeed Satan flows through the son of Adam like the flowing of blood, and I feared he might cast something — or he said: some evil — into your hearts.»
Arabic source
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «إن الشيطان واضع خطمه على قلب ابن آدم، فإن ذكر خنس، وإن نسي التقم قلبه، فذلك الوسواس الخناس». غريب.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «Indeed Satan places his snout upon the heart of the son of Adam. If he remembers Allah, it withdraws (khannasa); but if he forgets, it seizes his heart. That is al-waswas al-khannas.»
Arabic source
فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: «لا تقل: تعس الشيطان؛ فإنك إذا قلت: تعس الشيطان، تعاظم، وقال: بقوتي صرعته، وإذا قلت: بسم الله، تصاغر حتى يصير مثل الذباب».
The Prophet’s ﷺ mount stumbled, and the man riding behind him said, “May Satan perish.” The Prophet ﷺ said: «Do not say ‘May Satan perish,’ for when you say that, he swells up and says, ‘By my power I brought him down.’ But when you say ‘Bismillah (in the name of Allah),’ he shrinks until he becomes like a fly.»
Arabic source
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: «إن أحدكم إذا كان في المسجد، جاءه الشيطان فأبس به كما يبس الرجل بدابته، فإذا سكن له زنقه - أو: ألجمه». تفرد به أحمد.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «When one of you is in the mosque, Satan comes to him and grips him as a man grips his mount. When he yields to it quietly, it reins him in — or: bridles him.» Abu Hurayrah said: the one reined in you see leaning without remembering Allah, and the one bridled sits with his mouth agape without remembering Allah.
Part 2 Explaining “al-waswas al-khannas”: reports from the Salaf
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding the words الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ (the retreating whisperer): “It is the devil crouching upon the heart of the son of Adam. When he is heedless and forgetful, it whispers; but when he remembers Allah, it withdraws.” — Mujahid and Qatadah said the same.
Al-Mu‘tamir ibn Sulayman narrated from his father: “I was told that Satan — or al-waswas — breathes (whispers) into the heart of the son of Adam in times of grief and in times of joy; but when he remembers Allah, Satan withdraws.”
Al-‘Awfi narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding الْوَسْوَاسِ: “It is the devil; it commands, and when it is obeyed, it withdraws.”
Part 3 Commentary on ayat 5–6: Does “an-nas” include the jinn?
Arabic source (the ayah cited)
الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ · مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ
As for the words “who whispers in the breasts of mankind (an-nas)” — does “an-nas” here refer only to the children of Adam by its apparent meaning, or is it a broader sense that includes both humans and jinn? There are two views on this, since the jinn too can be included under the word “an-nas” (people) in common usage.
Ibn Jarir (al-Tabari) said: the phrase رِجَالٌ مِنَ الْجِنِّ (‘men from among the jinn’ — Surah al-Jinn 72:6) was used of the jinn, so it is not strange for “an-nas” to be used of the jinn as well.
Then Allah said مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ (“from among the jinn and mankind”) — this is a clarification (bayan), which supports the second view (that “an-nas” in the earlier ayah includes both jinn and humans). There is also another view: that it explains who does the whispering — the devils from among both humankind and the jinn, as Allah said in Surah al-An‘am (6:112):
Surah al-An‘am 6:112
وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ عَدُوًّا شَيَاطِينَ الْإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا
“And thus We made for every prophet an enemy — devils from among humankind and jinn, some of them inspiring others with decorative speech in delusion.”
Arabic source
عن أبي ذر قال: قلت: يا رسول الله، كم المرسلون؟ قال: «ثلاثمائة وبضعة عشر، جمًّا غفيرًا»… قلت: أي ما أنزل عليك أعظم؟ قال: «آية الكرسي».
Following the discussion of jinn/humans, Ibn Kathir cites the long hadith of Abu Dharr (before closing with the takbir): Abu Dharr asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how many are the messengers?” He replied: «Three hundred and some ten-odd, a great multitude.» … And he asked, “Which of what was revealed to you is the greatest?” He replied: «Ayat al-Kursi.»
Closing hadith — when waswas is severe, respond with takbir
Arabic source
عن ابن عباس أن رجلا جاء إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: يا رسول الله، إن أحدنا يجد في نفسه… فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: «اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي رَدَّ كَيْدَهُ إِلَى الْوَسْوَسَةِ»
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, one of us finds within himself (thoughts arising) — such that to be reduced to ashes would be dearer to him than to utter them.” The Prophet ﷺ said: «Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. All praise is due to Allah, who reduced his (Satan’s) plot to a mere whisper (that has no effect).»