his enemy against him, urging him to take revenge and making it seem attractive to him. If he cannot induce him to do that, he urges him to turn away from the offender, neither mistreating him nor showing him kindness. Thus, only someone who opposes Satan and prefers Allah and what is with Him over his own immediate gratification will choose to show kindness to one who mistreats him. The context therefore calls for emphasis and encouragement, so Allah says:
“And if an evil suggestion from Satan incites you, seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”
In Surah al-A‘rāf, however, He commands him to turn away from the ignorant. There is no command there to respond to their mistreatment with kindness, but only to turn away. This is easy for people and does not tax their souls. Satan is therefore not as eager or strenuous in preventing this as he is in preventing a person from responding with kindness. Thus, Allah says:
“And if an evil suggestion from Satan incites you, seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”
The distinction between these two passages and His words in Surah Hā Mīm al-Mu’min has already been discussed:
40:56 “So seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
In Sahīh al-Bukhārī, ‘Adī ibn Thābit narrates from Sulaymān ibn Surad, who said: “I was sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while two men were trading insults. One of them grew red in the face, and the veins in his neck swelled. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘I know words which, if he said them, would dispel what he is feeling. If he said, “I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed,” what he is feeling would leave him.’”
The second means of protection is reciting these two surahs. They have a remarkable effect in seeking refuge in Allah from Satan’s evil, repelling him, and guarding against him. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Those who seek refuge have never sought it with anything like these two.”
It has already been mentioned that he would seek refuge through them every night before sleeping, and that he instructed ‘Uqbah to recite them after every prayer. His following words (peace and blessings be upon him) have also been cited: “Whoever recites them together with Surah al-Ikhlās three times in the evening and three times in the morning, they will suffice him against everything.”
The third means of protection is reciting Āyat al-Kursī (the Verse of the Throne).
In the Sahīh, in a hadith narrated by Muhammad ibn