Tenth point: The word al-shayṭān, whose plural is shayāṭīn (a broken plural). The final nūn is part of the original root, for it comes from shaṭana, “to be far removed from good.” They say, “shaṭanat dāruhu,” that is, “his dwelling lay at a distance.” A poet said:
“Su‘ād has been carried far away from you—an exile most remote;
she departed, and my heart remains held captive by her.”
A well described as shatūn is one whose bottom is very deep.

Al-shaṭan also means “rope,” so called because its two ends are far apart and it is extended. A Bedouin once praised a horse—so the report goes—saying, “It is as though it were a shayṭān amid long ropes (ashṭān).”

The Devil was named shayṭān because of his distance from the truth and his obstinate rebellion; indeed, every overbearing rebel—whether of the jinn, human beings, or even beasts—is called a shayṭān. Jarīr said:
“In those days they called me the shayṭān for my love-songs,
yet the very women who chided me were smitten with me when I was a shayṭān!”

Another view holds that shayṭān is taken from shāṭa, yashīṭu, “to perish,” the nūn being an added letter. Shāṭa can also mean “to burn”; one says, “shayyaṭtu al-laḥma” when the meat is smoked but not fully cooked. “Ishtāṭa al-rajul” is said when a man flares up in anger. A she-camel described as mishyāṭ is so fat that the fat seems to fly within her. “Ishtāṭa” can likewise mean “he perished.” Al-Aʿshā said:
“We have split open the caravan for its hidden spoils,
and many a champion has perished upon our spears.”
Thus, yashīṭu here means “he perishes.”

This latter derivation is rebutted by the fact that Sībawayh records the Arabs as saying, “tashayṭana fulān,” meaning, “So-and-so acted like devils.” The form tafaʿala clearly shows it derives from shaṭana; had it come from shāṭa they would have said, tashayyaṭa.

It is further refuted by the verse of Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt:
“Whichever insolent rebel (shāṭin) disobeys Him, He smites him
and casts him into prison and iron fetters.”
Here, shāṭin is unambiguously from shaṭana.

Eleventh point: al-rajīm means “one cast far from goodness, disgraced.” The root sense of rajm is to stone: “rajamtuhu, arjumuhu” (I stoned him, I am stoning him); hence he is rajīm or marjūm.

Rajm may also denote killing, cursing, banishment, and reviling. All of these senses have been understood in the Almighty’s words: “If you do not cease, O Noah, you will surely be among those who are stoned” (11:32), and in Abraham’s words: “If you do not desist, I shall surely stone you” (19:46). More on this will follow, if Allah Most High wills.