“200-202” “If an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, seek refuge in Allah. He is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing. * When those who fear Allah are touched by a prompting from Satan, they remember, and at once they see clearly. * But the devils’ brethren are driven by them ever deeper into error, and they never let up.”
That is, whatever the time and whatever the circumstance, “if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan”—if you sense his whispering, his discouraging you from good, or his urging and inciting you toward evil—then “seek refuge in Allah”; that is, turn to Allah for refuge, hold fast to Him, and seek protection within His sanctuary. He is “All-Hearing” of what you say and “All-Knowing” of your intention, your weakness, and the strength of your recourse to Him. He will therefore protect you from Satan’s temptation and safeguard you from his whispering, as Allah Most High says: “Say, ‘I seek refuge in the Lord of humankind,’” to the end of the surah.
Since the servant will inevitably become heedless and be assailed by Satan, who constantly lies in wait for an unguarded moment of inattention, Allah Most High identifies what distinguishes the God-fearing from those who stray. When a God-fearing person senses himself slipping into sin and is touched by a prompting from Satan, so that he commits a forbidden act or neglects an obligation, he remembers the avenue by which he was assailed and the point through which Satan gained access to him. He remembers what Allah has made obligatory for him and what faith necessarily requires of him. His eyes are then opened, and he seeks Allah Most High’s forgiveness and makes amends for his lapse through sincere repentance and abundant good deeds. Thus he drives his devil away, rebuffed and frustrated, having thwarted everything Satan had managed to gain from him.
As for the brethren and allies of the devils, whenever they fall into sin, the devils continue drawing them further into error, one sin after another, and they do not desist. The devils do not relent in leading them astray, for they have become hopeful of success against them after seeing how easily they submit to their lead; and they, in turn, do not desist from committing evil.