(1–6) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, * the King of mankind, * the God of mankind, * from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws, * who whispers into the breasts of mankind, * from among jinn and mankind.’”
This surah comprises seeking refuge in the Lord of mankind, their King and their God, from Satan, who is the source and substance of every evil. One aspect of his temptation and evil is that ⦗938⦘ he whispers into people’s breasts, making evil appealing [to them], presenting it in an attractive form, and inciting them to commit it. He makes goodness appear ugly to them, discourages them from it, and presents it in a guise unlike its true form. He remains ever thus, whispering and withdrawing—the latter meaning that he retreats whenever the servant remembers his Lord and seeks His aid to repel him.
The servant should therefore [seek His aid and] seek refuge and protection through Allah’s lordship over all mankind.
All created beings are subject to His lordship and dominion, for He holds every creature by its forelock.
He should also seek protection through His divinity, for He created them to worship Him. Their worship cannot be complete unless the evil of their enemy is repelled—an enemy who seeks to sever them from it and come between them and it, and who wishes to make them members of his party so that they become inhabitants of the Blaze. A whisperer may be either a jinn or a human; hence He says, “From among jinn and mankind.”
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the worlds, in the beginning and the end, outwardly and inwardly.
We ask Him, Most High, to bring His favor to completion and to pardon us for sins of ours that have stood (1) between us and many of His blessings, and for faults and desires that have turned our hearts away from contemplating His signs.
We place our hope in Him and beseech Him not to deprive us of the good that is with Him because of the evil within us. Indeed, none despairs of relief from Allah except disbelieving people, and none loses hope in His mercy except those who are astray.
May Allah bestow His blessings and peace upon His Messenger Muhammad and upon all his family and Companions—blessings and peace that are everlasting and unceasing for all time. All praise belongs to Allah, by whose grace righteous deeds are brought to completion.
The commentary on Allah’s Book was completed, with His aid and gracious bestowal of success, at the hand of its compiler and scribe, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Nāsir ibn Abd Allāh, known as Ibn Sa‘dī—may Allah forgive him, his parents, and all Muslims—on the first day of Rabī al-Awwal in the year 1344 of the Hijra of Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) (2). ⦗939⦘