of the mosque, and the children of Madinah would have played with him. Therefore, whoever among you can prevent anything from passing between himself and the qiblah, let him do so (1).

Abū Dāwūd likewise transmits it (2)—retaining the words “whoever is able …” to the end—through Aḥmad ibn Suraij from Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr.

Al-Bukhārī states (3): “Maḥmūd related to us; Shababa related to us; Shuʿbah related to us, from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ once prayed and then said, ‘Satan confronted me and rushed at me, trying to break up my prayer, but Allah enabled me to overpower him,’” and he went on to relate the rest of the ḥadīth.

Muslim and al-Nasāʾī also record it (4) in an expanded version through Shuʿbah.

Al-Bukhārī’s wording—under his commentary on Allah’s words about Solomon (peace be upon him),
“My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that will not belong to anyone after me; truly You are the Bestower” (Ṣād 35)—
comes through the isnād of Rawḥ and Ghundar from Shuʿbah, from Muḥammad ibn Ziyād, from Abū Hurayrah, who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“A powerful demon (an ʿifreet) from the jinn lunged at me last night—or words to that effect—trying to interrupt my prayer. Allah enabled me to overpower him, and I wanted to tie him to one of the pillars of the mosque so that you could all see him in the morning. But I remembered the supplication of my brother Solomon: ‘My Lord, forgive me and grant me a kingdom that will not belong to anyone after me; truly You are the Bestower’ (Ṣād 35).” (5)

Rawḥ added: “So he sent him away, humiliated.”

Muslim also relates (6)—through Abū Idrīs from Abū al-Dardāʾ—that he said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood to pray and we heard him say, ‘I seek refuge in Allah from you.’ Then he said, ‘I curse you with Allah’s complete curse,’ three times, and he stretched out his hand as though grasping something. When he had finished the prayer we said, ‘Messenger of Allah, we heard you say something in the prayer that we had never heard before, and we saw you extend your hand.’ He replied, ‘The enemy of Allah, Iblīs, came with a flaming brand of fire to throw it in my face. I said, “I seek refuge in Allah from you,” three times; then I said, “I curse you with Allah’s complete curse,” yet he would not retreat. I then meant to seize him. By Allah, were it not for the supplication of our brother Solomon, he would have been left bound so that the children of Madinah could play with him.’”

Allah the Exalted says:
“So let not the life of this world delude you, nor let the Arch-Deceiver delude you concerning Allah” (Luqmān 33),
i.e., Satan. And He says:
“Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so treat him as an enemy. He only calls his followers so that they may become companions of the Blaze” (Fāṭir 6).

Thus Satan never spares a human being from corruption, exerting all his strength and power in every circumstance, movement, and stillness, just as al-Ḥāfiẓ has documented