except that a devilish companion has been appointed to him.”
They asked, “Even you, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “Yes—but Allah has helped me against him, so he has submitted.” (1)
This report is unique to Aḥmad and meets the conditions of authenticity.

Imām Aḥmad also related: Hārūn narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Wahb narrated to us; Abū Ṣakhr informed me, from Yazīd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Quṣayṭ, who reported that ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr told him that ʿĀʾishah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, told him:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ left my house one night, and I felt jealous. When he returned and saw what I was doing, he said, ‘What is the matter with you, ʿĀʾishah—have you become jealous?’
“I said, ‘And why should someone like me not be jealous of someone like you?’
“He replied, ‘Has your devil taken hold of you?’
“I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, do I have a devil with me?’
“He said, ‘Yes.’
“I asked, ‘And does every human being have one?’
“He said, ‘Yes.’
“I asked, ‘Even you, O Messenger of Allah?’
“He said, ‘Yes, but my Lord aided me against him until he submitted.’” (2)
Muslim likewise narrated it (3) from Hārūn—namely Ibn Saʿīd al-Aylī—with a similar chain.

Imām Aḥmad further said (4): Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Ibn Luhayʿah narrated to us, from Mūsā ibn Wardān, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“The believer subdues his devil just as one of you subdues his camel on a journey.”
Aḥmad alone reported it through this route.
The phrase “subdues his devil” means to seize him by the forelock, overpowering and vanquishing him, just as a runaway camel is overpowered once it is caught.

Concerning the words of Allah, Exalted is He, reporting what Iblīs said:
“Because You have led me astray, I will surely lie in wait for them on Your straight path; then I will come at them from in front of them and from behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them grateful.” (al-Aʿrāf 7:16–17)

Imām Aḥmad said: Hāshim ibn Qāsim narrated to us; Abū ʿAqīl—ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAqīl al-Thaqafī—narrated to us; Mūsā ibn al-Musayyib narrated to us, from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, from Sabrāh ibn Abī Fakih, who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
“The devil sat in wait for the son of Adam at all his roads. He sat for him on the road of Islam and said, ‘Will you embrace Islam and abandon your religion and the religion of your forefathers?’ But he disobeyed him and entered Islam.
“Then he sat for him on the road of emigration and said, ‘Will you emigrate and leave your land and your sky? The emigrant is but like a horse tethered to a stake.’ Yet he disobeyed him and emigrated.
“Then he sat for him on the road of jihad and said, ‘It is the jihad of life and wealth. Will you fight and be killed, and then your wife will be married and your property divided?’ But he disobeyed him and fought.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, “Whoever acts in this manner, it becomes incumbent upon Allah to admit him to Paradise; and if he drowns, it is likewise incumbent