He also set himself against the Messiah, peace and blessings be upon him, until the Jews sought to kill and crucify him. But Allah thwarted his scheme, protected the Messiah, and raised him to Himself.
He set himself against Zechariah and John until they were killed.
He stirred up Pharaoh, making immense corruption on earth and the claim to be his people’s supreme lord seem fair to him.
He set himself against the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and did his utmost to help the disbelievers kill him. But Allah Most High continues to thwart him and drive him back humiliated.
He lunged at the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with a flaming brand, intending to hurl it at him while he was praying. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, began saying:
“I curse you with Allah’s curse.”
He also helped the Jews work their sorcery against the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
If such is his conduct and his determination to do evil, how can anyone escape him except through Allah’s help, support, and protection?
The kinds of evil he causes cannot be fully enumerated, let alone their individual instances, for he is the cause of every evil in the world. Nevertheless, his evil falls into six categories. He persists in pursuing the son of Adam until he secures one or more of them from him.
The first evil is disbelief, associating partners with Allah, and enmity towards Allah and His Messenger. If he achieves this with the son of Adam, his groaning subsides, and he rests from the struggle with him. This is the first thing he seeks from the servant.
He keeps pursuing him until he obtains it. Once he does, he makes him one of his troops and soldiers, appointing him as his deputy over others like him. Thus he becomes one of Iblīs’s advocates and deputies. If he despairs of achieving this, and the person is someone for whom Islam was already decreed while he was in his mother’s womb, he moves him to the second level of evil.
This is religious innovation, which he loves more than wickedness and sins, because it harms religion itself, and its harm extends to others. It is a sin from which one does not repent; it opposes the call of the messengers and calls people to the opposite of what they brought. It is a gateway to disbelief and associating partners with Allah. If he obtains