سورة الأنعام

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ کَذلِکَ جَعَلْنا لِکُلِّ نَبِیٍّ عَدُوًّا [And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy] was revealed concerning the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and Abu Jahl.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mankind is of three groups: one group will be under the shade of the Throne on the day when there is no shade but its shade; another group will face reckoning and punishment; and another group whose form is that of humans but whose inner selves are the inner selves of satans.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Those whom Allah has not made from the people of the attribute of truth — they are the satans of mankind.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said on the Day of Ghadir: ... O group of people! I am the straight path and the true way that Allah has commanded you to follow. And after me, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), and then my sons from his loins are the straight path. They are the very leaders who guide people toward the truth and judge with truth and justice. (al-A'raf/159). Then he recited the blessed verses of Surah al-Hamd: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمِینَ [Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds]... and he indicated that these noble verses were revealed concerning me and concerning them; they are the friends of Allah; [the friends and] awliya of Allah, they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve! (Yunus/62). Know that "Hizbullah" (the party of Allah) are the victorious and the successful. (al-Mujadila/22). Know that the enemies of Ali (peace be upon him) are the very people of dissension and hypocrisy; they are enemies and opponents and transgressors of the limits; they are the brothers of Satan; they secretly cast to one another deceptively adorned and baseless speech [to mislead the people].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O Kumayl! Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, is Generous, Forbearing, Great and Merciful. He guided us toward Himself and commanded us to take these praiseworthy attributes and also to command people to acquire them. So we conveyed them to people without disagreement and without hypocrisy, and we affirmed them, not denied them. And without doubt we accepted them. By Allah, there are no satans and demons for us to whom we send revelation; rather, revelation is sent to us, just as Allah the Exalted has described. Allah has named all of them by name in His Book. If it were read as it was revealed: شَیاطِینَ الْإِنْسِ وَ الْجِنِّ یُوحِی بَعْضُهُمْ إِلی بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً [the satans of mankind and jinn, some of them inspiring others with adorned speech in deception]. O Kumayl, and soon they shall see [the punishment of] their own misguidance! (Maryam/59).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The satans meet one another and report to each other how they misled mankind, and they learn from one another.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Then they asked him about the word wahy (revelation) in the Book of Allah, and he said: "The kinds of wahy include wahy of prophethood, wahy of ilham (inspiration), wahy of isharah (indication), wahy of command, wahy of falsehood, wahy of taqdir (determination), wahy of news, and wahy of risalah (messengership)... And wahy of falsehood is like this saying of Allah: وَ کَذلِکَ جَعَلْنا لِکُلِّ نَبِیٍّ عَدُوًّا شَیاطینَ الْإِنْسِ وَ الْجِنِّ یُوحی بَعْضُهُمْ إِلی بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً وَ لَوْ شاءَ رَبُّکَ ما فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَ ما یَفْتَرُونَ [And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the Shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive (them), and had your Lord pleased they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge]."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ کَذلِکَ جَعَلْنا لِکُلِّ نَبِیٍّ عَدُوًّا شَیاطِینَ الْإِنْسِ وَ الْجِن [And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the Shaitans from among men and jinn]; that is, Allah did not send any prophet except that among his community there were shaitans of the jinn and men who used to say to one another: do not incline towards vain and deceptive speech, and this is the false wahy (revelation).

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In Tafsir al-Imam al-Askari (peace be upon him) it is reported: Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: When Jibra'il brought the command from Allah to close the doors you had opened onto the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)... the believers accepted this command and obeyed, but the hypocrites became enraged and refused. They went to one another and said among themselves: "Do you not see that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) keeps assigning virtues solely to his cousin so as to send us out of the domain of virtues empty-handed?! By Allah, if we obey him during the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), we will surely refuse to accept the virtue of Ali (peace be upon him) after his death." Abdullah ibn Ubayy was listening to their words; sometimes he became angry and sometimes calm, and he said to them: "Indeed Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is a man of Allah, so beware of openly showing enmity toward him, for whoever openly shows enmity toward a man of Allah will be overthrown, humiliated and helpless, and life will become straitened upon him. The clever and intelligent person is the one who swallows down grief and waits for the right opportunity." They were in this state when a man from among the believers named Zayd ibn Arqam passed by them and said to them: "O enemies of Allah, do you deny Allah, disparage His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), and plot against Allah and His religion? I shall certainly inform the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) of your words." So Abdullah ibn Ubayy and the group with him said: "By Allah, if you inform him of our words we will deny you and swear oaths for that noble one, and in that case he will believe us. And by Allah, we will bring people who will testify against you before him with such testimony as makes you deserving of execution, amputation of a limb, or the hadd punishment!" He said: Then Zayd came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and secretly reported what he had heard from Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions, and Allah the Exalted revealed the verse: "And do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and pay no attention to their harm, and put your trust in Allah, and Allah is sufficient as protector and defender [of you]!" (Al-Ahzab/48)... The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) paid little attention to the report given to him about them, and said to Zayd: "If you wish to remain safe from their evil and that their harm should not reach you, then every morning when you wake from sleep say: أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّیْطَانِ الرَّجِیم [I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan], and Allah will protect you from their evil, for they are satans who secretly whisper to one another varnished, baseless words [to deceive people]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Be aware that your enemies are those you have seen, and their departure from guidance, their plunging into misguidance, their rejection of the truth, and their obstinacy in wandering astray is enough for them. So leave them and the falsehoods they fabricate! And let them be.