He says: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Iblis’s throne is upon the sea; he dispatches his detachments who tempt people, and the greatest of them in his sight is the one who causes the greatest temptation.” This wording is unique to this chain.

Ahmad also reported: Muʾammal narrated to us, Ḥammād narrated to us, ʿAlī ibn Zayd narrated from Abū Naḍrah, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Ibn Ṣāʾid, “What do you see?” He replied, “I see a throne upon the water—upon the sea—surrounded by serpents.” He ﷺ said, “That is the throne of Iblis.” This is how it appears in the Musnad of Jābir.

In the Musnad of Abū Saʿīd it is related: ʿAffān narrated to us, Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, ʿAlī ibn Zayd narrated from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Ibn Ṣayyād, “What do you see?” He answered, “I see a throne on the sea, encircled by serpents.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “He has spoken the truth—that is the throne of Iblis.”

Imām Aḥmad also transmitted—through Māʿiz al-Tamīmī and Abū al-Zubayr—from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Satan has despaired of being worshipped by those who pray, but he busies himself with stirring up friction among them.”

Imām Muslim likewise related, through al-Aʿmash from Abū Sufyān (Ṭalḥah ibn Nāfiʿ) from Jābir, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“Indeed, Satan places his throne upon the water, then sends out his companies among the people. The one closest to him in rank is he who causes the greatest trial. One of them comes and says, ‘I kept at so-and-so until I left him saying such-and-such.’ Iblis says, ‘By Allah, you have done nothing.’ Then another comes and says, ‘I did not leave him until I separated him from his wife.’ Iblis draws him near, embraces him, and says, ‘Excellent—you are the one!’”

The phrase “Excellent” (niʿm) is transmitted with the nūn pronounced with fatḥa, meaning, “Yes, you are indeed the one who deserves honor.” It is also transmitted with kasra, meaning, “How excellent it is—this is from you.” Some grammarians take this as evidence that the doer (fāʿil) of niʿma may be implicit, though this is rare. Our teacher, the ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Ḥajjāj, preferred the first reading, gave it precedence, and justified it as we have indicated. Allah knows best.

We have already cited this ḥadīth when discussing His words, “by which they separate a man from his wife” (al-Baqarah 2:102). That sorcery learned from the devils—whether human or jinn—is used to divide even the closest of companions and the most loving of couples. For this reason Iblis commends the efforts of whoever is the cause of such division: what Allah condemns, he praises; what angers Allah pleases him. May Allah’s curse be upon him.

Allah, exalted is He, revealed the two sūrahs of seeking refuge (al-Muʿawwidhatān) as a safeguard against every kind of evil, its causes, and its outcomes—especially Sūrah