only the whispering that assails him is intended, they are given power over him only because of his sins, which arise from that whispering. Allah Most High says:

“When a calamity befell you, although you had inflicted twice as much, did you say, ‘How did this happen?’ Say, ‘It is from your own selves.’”

He also says:

“Whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned.”

And He says:

“Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever ill befalls you is from yourself.”

Whispering is a kind of speech and discourse. Thus, regarding His words, “what his soul whispers to him,” the Quran commentators explained: “what his soul says to him.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah has pardoned my community for what passes through their minds, so long as they neither speak of it nor act upon it.”

This speech is of two kinds: declarative and non-declarative. Declarative speech concerns either the past or the future. The whisperer reminds a person of the past; concerning the future, he tells him of things that the person himself will do, or things that will happen by Allah’s decree or through someone else’s actions. These are vain hopes and false promises. Non-declarative speech consists of commands, prohibitions, and permissions.

At times Satan whispers evil, and at other times he causes a person to forget what is good. This happens through the inner talk with which he preoccupies him. Allah Most High says concerning forgetfulness: