(8) “Is one whose evil deed has been made alluring to him, so that he regards it as good, like one who is rightly guided? Indeed, Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So do not let yourself waste away in sorrow over them. Indeed, Allah knows all that they do.”

Allah Most High says: “Is one whose evil deed has been made alluring to him”—Satan has adorned his wicked, reprehensible deed for him and made it appear pleasing in his eyes—“so that he regards it as good,” like one whom Allah has guided to the straight path and the upright religion? Are these two equal?

The first commits evil and regards truth as falsehood and falsehood as truth. The second does good and regards truth as truth and falsehood as falsehood. Yet guidance and misguidance are in the hand of Allah Most High: “Indeed, Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So do not let yourself waste away in sorrow over them”—that is, over those who have gone astray, whose evil deeds have been made alluring to them, and whom Satan has turned away from the truth. Your only duty is to convey the message; you bear no responsibility for guiding them, and Allah—[He] is the One who will recompense them for their deeds. “Indeed, Allah knows all that they do.”