that was one, and created from it its mate.” All people, then, were created from Adam and Eve, even though Allah, glorified be He, addresses both jinn and humankind, and the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent to both kinds. Yet the word “people” does not encompass the jinn; rather, He says, “O company of jinn and humankind.”

Likewise, al-Zajjāj’s statement that the meaning is “from the evil of the whisperer”—meaning the jinn—“and from the evil of people” is weak, although it is more plausible than the first interpretation. For the evil of the jinn is greater than that of humankind. How, then, could He prescribe seeking refuge from all people without qualification, while prescribing refuge from only some of the jinn?

Moreover, if the whisperer who withdraws is only from among the jinn, there is no need for the words “from among jinn” and “from among people.” Why, then, single out the whispering of the jinn as something from which to seek refuge, to the exclusion of human whispering?

Furthermore, when a noun precedes a coordinated term, it is preferable to coordinate that term with the nearer noun, just as it is preferable for a pronoun to refer to the nearer antecedent—unless there is evidence requiring coordination with the more distant noun. Thus, coordinating “people” here with “jinn,” with which it is paired, is preferable to coordinating it with “the whisperer.”