“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, the Sovereign of mankind, the God of mankind, from the evil of the whisperer who slinks away, who whispers into the breasts of mankind, whether they be jinn or men.” (Sūrat al-Nās 1–6)

It is recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from Anas—and in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī from Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyayy—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Satan circulates within the son of Adam as blood circulates.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī narrated: Muḥammad ibn Baḥr told us, ʿAdiyy ibn Abī ʿAmārah told us, Ziyād al-Numayrī narrated from Anas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Satan sets his snout upon the heart of the child of Adam; if the servant remembers Allah, he withdraws, but if the servant forgets, he engulfs the heart. That, then, is the ‘whisperer, the slinker.’”

Because the remembrance of Allah drives Satan from the heart, it simultaneously serves as a reminder for people, as the Exalted says, “And remember your Lord when you forget” (al-Kahf 18:24). Likewise, the companion of Moses said, “But none caused me to forget it except Satan” (al-Kahf 18:63). The Most High also says, “But Satan caused him to forget the remembrance of his Lord” (Yūsuf 12:42)—that is, the cup-bearer whom Joseph had asked to mention him to his master, meaning the king. The cup-bearer forgot, and this forgetfulness was from Satan, so Joseph remained in prison for several more years. Hence the verse that follows: “Then the one of the two who was saved said—after a period of time had passed—” (Yūsuf 12:45), meaning after an interval. Another recitation has, “after forgetfulness,” that is, after he had forgotten. What we have said—that the forgetful one was the cup-bearer—is the sounder of the two opinions, as we have clarified in the Tafsīr; and Allah knows best.

Imām Aḥmad reported: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, Shuʿbah related to us, from ʿĀṣim who said: I heard Abū Tamīmah narrate from the rider who was seated behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet’s donkey stumbled, and I exclaimed, “May Satan perish!” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not say, ‘May Satan perish,’ for when you say that he swells with pride and says, ‘By my power I felled him.’ Rather say, ‘In the name of Allah,’ and he shrinks until he is like a fly.” Aḥmad alone transmitted this report, and its chain is good.

Aḥmad also said: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī narrated to us, al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān narrated to us, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When any one of you is in the mosque, Satan comes to him and pesters him just as …”