Ibn ‘Abbas said: “The first occasion refers to the life of this world. That is, if they were returned from the Hereafter to this world, We would turn their hearts and eyes away from faith, just as they did not believe in this world before their deaths, as He says: ‘But if they were returned, they would surely return to what they had been forbidden.’” [al-An‘am 6:28]
“And We will leave them to wander blindly in their transgression.” ‘Ata’ said: “We will forsake them and leave them to persist in their misguidance.”
“Even if We had sent down the angels to them”—so that they saw them openly—“and the dead had spoken to them”—by Our bringing them to life, whereupon they testified to your prophethood, as they had requested—“and We had gathered every thing before their very eyes”: the people of Medina and Ibn ‘Amir recited it as qibalan, with the qaf vowelled with kasrah and the ba with fathah, meaning “openly, before their eyes.” The others recited it as qubulan, with both the qaf and ba vowelled with dammah. It is the plural of qabil, meaning “guarantor,” just as ragif has the plural rughuf, and qadib has the plural qudub. ⦗123⦘ That is, guarantors and sureties. It was also said that it is the plural of qabil, meaning “tribe”; that is, troop after troop. It was also said to mean confrontation and direct encounter, as in the expression, “I came to you from the front, not from behind,” when one comes to a person facing him. “They would not believe unless Allah willed it. But most of them are ignorant.”
“And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy—devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech by way of deception. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it; so leave them and what they fabricate, so that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it, be pleased with it, and commit whatever sins they are committing.” (112–113)
“And thus We have made for every prophet an enemy”—that is, enemies. This consoles the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: just as We tested you with these people, so too We made enemies for every prophet before you. He then explained who they were, saying: “devils from mankind and jinn.”
‘Ikrimah, al-Dahhak, al-Suddi, and al-Kalbi said: This means the devils of the jinn who are assigned to mankind, and the devils of the jinn who are assigned to the jinn; there are no devils among mankind itself. This is because Iblis divided his troops into two groups: he sent one group among them to mankind and another group to the jinn. Both groups are enemies of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and of his close allies. They meet one another regularly, and the devil (1) assigned to mankind says to the devil assigned to the jinn, “I led my companion astray in such-and-such a way, so lead your companion astray in the same way.” The devils assigned to the jinn likewise say this to the devils assigned to mankind. That is their inspiring one another.
Qatadah, Mujahid, and al-Hasan said: Among mankind there are devils, just as among the jinn there are devils. A devil is every insolent, rebellious being. They said: When Satan finds the believer too difficult and is unable to lead him astray, he goes to a rebellious human being—who is a devil from among mankind—and incites him against the believer so that he may tempt him. This is supported by what was narrated from Abu Dharr, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to me, “Have you sought Allah’s protection from the devils of the jinn and mankind?” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, are there devils among mankind?”