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The story of The Creation of the Jinn and the Story of Iblis in the Quran and the Islamic tradition: verses, hadiths and the views of the exegetes, faithfully translated from Arabic.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 2:40 PM
« He created the human being of sounding clay like pottery, and created the jinn of smokeless fire. Which of the favors of your Lord do you both deny? »
Surat ar-Rahman, 14-16
« And We created the human being of sounding clay, of molded mud. And the jinn, We created him before, from the fire of the scorching wind. »
Surat al-Hijr, 26-27
Ibn Abbas, 'Ikrima, Mujahid, al-Hasan and more than one other said, regarding « of smokeless fire »: from the edge of the flame, from its purest and best part. We have already mentioned, by the route of az-Zouhri, from 'Ourwa, that the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The angels were created from light, the jinn were created from smokeless fire, and Adam was created from what has been described to you. » Related by Muslim.
The jinn were created before Adam (peace be upon him), and before them, on the earth, there were the hinn and the binn: Allah let the jinn loose upon them, they killed them, drove them out of the earth and annihilated them from it, and the jinn settled there after them, because of what they had done. As-Souddi mentioned in his Tafsir, from Abu Malik and Abu Salih, from Ibn Abbas, and from Murra, from Ibn Mas'oud: when Allah finished creating what He loved and established Himself upon the Throne, He placed Iblis over the dominion of the lowest heaven, and he was of a tribe among the angels called the jinn: they were only named jinn because they were the keepers of Paradise: « Allah gave me this because of the excellence I have over the angels. » And ad-Dahhak mentioned that, when the jinn corrupted the earth and shed blood, Allah sent to them Iblis, with him a detachment of angels: they killed them and drove them out of the earth to the islands of the seas.
Muhammad ibn Ishaq said, from Khallad, from 'Ata', from Tawous: the name of Iblis, before he committed the disobedience, was 'Azazil: he was among the inhabitants of the earth, and among the most zealous of the angels and the most knowledgeable of them, and he was of a tribe called the jinn. Ibn Abi Hatim related: his name was 'Azazil, he was of the noblest of the angels, among the first endowed with four wings. Sunayd said, from Hajjaj: Iblis was of the noblest of the angels and the most generous of them in tribe, treasurer of the gardens, and he had the dominion of the lowest heaven and the dominion of the earth. Salih, client of at-Taw'ama, said: he went back and forth between the heaven and the earth: Ibn Jarir related it. Qatada said, from Sa'id ibn al-Moussayyab: Iblis was the chief of the angels of the lowest heaven.
Al-Hasan al-Basri said: he was not of the angels for the blink of an eye: he is the origin of the jinn, as Adam is the origin of humankind. Shahr ibn Hawchab said: Iblis was among the jinn whom the angels drove out: some of them captured him and took him up to the heaven. When Allah willed to create Adam, that he and his descendants be upon the earth after him, and formed his mass from it, Iblis, who was the chief of the jinn and the most devout of them in worship at that time, and whose name was 'Azazil, circled around it. When he saw it hollow, he knew it was a creation that could not stand upright: « If you are given power over me, I will destroy you; and if I am given power over you, I will disobey You.
» When Allah breathed into Adam of His spirit, as will come, and commanded the angels to prostrate to him, great envy entered Iblis, and he refused to prostrate to him: « I am better than him: You created me from fire, and You created him from clay. » He thus opposed the command, objected to the Lord of the worlds, erred in his saying, distanced himself from the mercy of his Lord, was cast down from the rank he had attained through his worship, and he had resembled the angels without being of their kind: for he is a created being of fire, and they are of light: so his nature betrayed him at the very moment of his greatest need for it, and he returned to his fiery origin. « So the angels prostrated, all of them together, except Iblis: he was arrogant and was of the disbelievers. And when We said to the angels: prostrate to Adam: they prostrated, except Iblis, who was of the jinn, and he revolted against the command of his Lord.
Would you then take him and his descendants as protectors besides Me, while they are an enemy to you? Wretched is the exchange for the wrongdoers. »
Iblis descended therefore from the highest assembly, and He forbade him to dwell in heaven: he descended to the earth humiliated, abased, cursed, driven away, threatened with the Fire, he and whoever follows him of the jinn and the humans; and despite that he strove with all his might to lead the children of Adam astray by every way and from every ambush:
« Do You see this one You have honored above me? If You defer me to the Day of Resurrection, I will besiege his descendants, except a few. He said: go: whoever of them follows you: Hell shall be your recompense, an ample recompense. And stir up whoever of them you can with your voice, and rally against them your cavalry and your infantry, and share with them in wealth and children, and promise them: the devil promises them only delusion.
My servants: you have no authority over them: your Lord suffices as a guardian. »
Surat al-Isra, 61-65
We shall relate the story in detail at the mention of the creation of Adam (peace be upon him). The point is that the jinn were created from fire: like the children of Adam, they eat, drink and reproduce; among them are believers and among them disbelievers, as the Most High has informed of them in sura al-Jinn:
« And when We directed toward you a group of the jinn, listening to the Quran. When they were in its presence, they said: listen attentively. When it was concluded, they returned to their people as warners. They said: O our people, we have heard a Book revealed after Moussa, confirming what came before it: it guides to the truth and to a straight path.
O our people, respond to the caller of Allah, and believe in him: He will forgive you some of your sins and protect you from a painful punishment. And whoever does not respond to the caller of Allah cannot frustrate Him on the earth, and he has no protectors besides Him: those are in evident error. »
Surat al-Jinn, 1-7
« Say: it has been revealed to me that a group of the jinn listened, and they said: we have heard a wondrous Quran, guiding to righteousness: so we have believed in it, and we will never associate with our Lord anyone. And that our Lord is exalted: He has taken neither a companion nor a son. And that the irrational among us used to say extravagant things against Allah. And that we thought that neither humankind nor jinn would ever speak a lie against Allah.
And that there were men among humankind who sought protection of men among the jinn, and they only increased them in insolence. And that they thought, as you thought, that Allah would not resurrect anyone. And that we touched the heaven and found it filled with stern guards and comets. And that we used to sit there in positions for hearing: but whoever listens now finds a shooting star in ambush for him.
And that we do not know whether evil is intended for those on the earth, or whether their Lord intends for them righteousness. And that among us are the righteous, and among us are less than that: we were of divergent ways. And that we thought we would never frustrate Allah on the earth, nor frustrate Him by flight. And that, when we heard the guidance, we believed in it: whoever believes in his Lord fears no diminution nor insolence.
And that among us are those who submit, and among us are the unjust: those who have submitted have sought righteousness; as for the unjust, they have been firewood for Hell. And that had they stood firm on the way, We would have given them abundant water to drink, to try them therein: and whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will thrust him into an escalating punishment. »
Surat al-Jinn, 8-17
We have already expounded this sura, and the story in full at the end of sura al-Jinn, and mentioned the hadiths connected with that there: this group was of the jinn of Nassibine; and it is related in some athars: of the jinn of Bosra; they passed by the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while he was standing in prayer with his companions in a palm grove of the land of Mecca: they stopped and listened to his recitation. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spent a whole night with them: they asked him about things, and he commanded them what he commanded and forbade them what he forbade: « You have every bone over which the name of Allah is pronounced: you will find it the most abundant of meat; and every dropping of herbage is pasturage for your beasts. » And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade using them for cleansing: « They are the food of your brothers the jinn. » And he forbade urinating in the holes, for they are dwellings of the jinn.
And the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited to them the sura ar-Rahman: each time he passed by the verse « Which of the favors of your Lord do you both deny? », they said: « we deny none of Your favors, our Lord: to You belongs the praise. » When he recited this sura to the people, they remained silent: he said: « The jinn answered better than you: whenever I recited before them "Which of the favors of your Lord do you both deny?", they said: we deny none of Your favors, our Lord: to You belongs the praise. » Related by at-Tirmidhi, from Jabir, and by Ibn Jarir and al-Bazzar, from Ibn 'Oumar.
The scholars differed concerning the believing jinn: do they enter Paradise, or is the reward of their obedient ones only that they are not punished by the Fire? They enter Paradise, according to the generality of the Quran: « And for whoever fears the standing of his Lord are two gardens » (ar-Rahman, 46) « Which of the favors of your Lord do you both deny? »
The Most High therefore bestowed favor upon them in this: were they not to attain it, He would not have mentioned it, and He counted it among the favors upon them: and this alone is an argument sufficient on the question: and Allah knows best.
Qutayba narrated to us, from Malik, from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abdallah ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Sa'sa'a, that Abu Sa'id al-Khoudri said to him: « I see you love sheep and the desert: when you are among your sheep or in your desert and you call the prayer, raise your voice with the call: for no jinn, nor human, nor anything hears the range of the muezzin's voice but that he bears witness for him on the Day of Resurrection. » Abu Sa'id said: I heard it from the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Al-Bukhari alone related it, without Muslim.
As for the disbelievers among the jinn: among them are the devils, and their foremost and greatest is Iblis, enemy of Adam, father of humankind. Allah (exalted is He) let him loose, him and his descendants, upon Adam and his descendants, and He guaranteed protection to whoever believes in Him, holds His messengers truthful and follows the law come from among them: « My servants: you have no authority over them: your Lord suffices as a guardian. » And Iblis saw his supposition come true upon them: they followed him, except a group of believers: « He had no authority over them, except that We might distinguish whoever believes in the Hereafter from whoever is in doubt of it: and your Lord is Guardian over all things. » « O children of Adam, let not the devil tempt you as he brought your parents out of Paradise, stripping them of their garment to show them their shame: he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them: We made the devils protectors of those who do not believe. »
« And when your Lord said to the angels: I am creating a human being from sounding clay, from molded mud. When I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration. So the angels prostrated, all of them together, except Iblis: he refused to be with those who prostrated. He said: O Iblis, what is with you that you are not with those who prostrate?
He said: I am not to prostrate to a human being You created from sounding clay, from molded mud. He said: then depart from it: you are stoned. And upon you is the curse until the day of the religion. He said: my Lord, grant me respite until the day they are resurrected.
He said: you are among those given respite, until the day of the appointed time. He said: my Lord, because You have led me astray, I will adorn for them what is on the earth, and lead them all astray, except Your servants among them who are sincere. He said: this is a straight path incumbent upon Me: My servants: you have no authority over them, except whoever follows you of the astray. And Hell is the promised meeting place for them all: it has seven gates, and for each gate of them is an allotted portion.
»
Surat al-Hijr, 28-44
The Most High has mentioned this story in sura al-Baqara, in al-A'raf, here, in sura Subhan, in sura Ta-Ha, and in sura Sad: we have spoken of all of that in its places in our book The Tafsir: to Allah the praise. And we shall present it in the story of Adam, if Allah wills.
The point: Allah granted Iblis respite and deferred him to the Day of Resurrection, as trial for His servants and test from Him of them: « He had no authority over them, except that We might distinguish whoever believes in the Hereafter from whoever is in doubt of it: and your Lord is Guardian over all things. »
« And the devil said, when the matter was decided: Allah promised you a promise of truth, and I promised you then failed you. I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you answered me: so do not blame me, but blame yourselves. I cannot come to your aid, nor can you come to mine: I deny the association you associated me with before: the wrongdoers have a painful punishment. And those who believed and did righteous deeds were admitted into gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein eternally, by permission of their Lord: their greeting therein is: peace.
»
Surat Ibrahim, 22-24
Iblis, may Allah curse him, is alive now, granted respite to the Day of Resurrection by the plain text of the Quran: and he has a throne upon the surface of the sea, and he sits upon it, and sends his armies casting between the people evil and temptations: « Indeed the cunning of the devil was ever weak » (an-Nisa, 76). His kunya is Abu Kourdous.
The story of Ibn Sayyad: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: « What do you see? » « I see a throne upon the water. » He said: « Begone: you shall never exceed your measure. » He then knew that the substance of the revelation being made to him was devilish, drawn from Iblis, who beholds his throne upon the sea: that is why he said to him: « Begone: you shall never exceed your measure », that is: you shall never exceed your base, wretched, lowly worth.
The evidence that the throne of Iblis is upon the sea is the hadith related by the imam Ahmad. Abu al-Moughira narrated to us: Safwan narrated to us: Ma'iz at-Tamimi narrated to me: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The throne of Iblis is in the sea: he sends his armies to it every day, and they tempt the people: and the greatest of them in rank with him is the greatest tempter of the people. »
Rouh narrated to us that he heard Jabir ibn Abdallah say: I heard the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: « The throne of Iblis is upon the sea: he sends his armies, and they tempt the people: the greatest of them with him is the greatest tempter. » He alone related it by this route.
Mou'ammal narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us: Ali ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Abu Nadra: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to Ibn Sayyad: « What do you see? » « I see a throne upon the water. » « Upon the sea, around it serpents. » « That is the throne of Iblis. » Thus he related it in the Musnad of Jabir. And he said in the Musnad of Abu Sa'id: 'Affan narrated to us: Hammad ibn Salama informed us: Ali ibn Zayd informed us, from Abu Nadra, from Abu Sa'id: he said to him: « What do you see? » « I see a throne upon the sea, around it the serpents. » « True: that is the throne of Iblis. »
The imam Ahmad related it by the route of Ma'iz at-Tamimi, and the imam Ahmad also from Abu az-Zoubayr, from Jabir: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The devil has despaired of being worshipped by those who pray: but he toils at stirring discord between them. » And the imam Muslim related, from the hadith of al-A'mach, from Abu Soufyan Talha ibn Nafi', from Jabir: the devil sets his throne upon the water: then he sends his detachments: the farthest of them from him is the one he parts from: « I followed so-and-so until I left him saying this and that. » « By Allah, you did nothing. » « I only left him when I had separated him and his family. » He is then brought near and kept close: « Yes, it is you. » « Yes, it is you who deserve the honor. » « How good of you! » And some grammarians have used it as evidence for the permissibility of the « yes » without an implicit subject: and it is rare, and our sheikh the hafiz Abu al-Hajjaj preferred the first, judged it weightier, and directed it by what we mentioned: and Allah knows best.
That by which they separate a man and his wife: the magic received from the devils, of humans and jinn, is used to reach separation between allies allied to the utmost, loving and cherishing one another: that is why Iblis thanks the striving of whoever is the cause of that: the one Allah blames, he praises; and the one who angers Allah, he pleases: upon him the curse of Allah. Allah (exalted is He) sent down the two protective suras against all kinds of evil, its causes and its ends:
« Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men, the King of men, the Deity of men, from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws, who whispers into the breasts of men, among the jinn and the men. »
Surat an-Nas, 1-6
It is established in the two Sahihs, from Anas, and in the Sahih of al-Bukhari: the devil circulates in the son of Adam as the blood circulates.
Muhammad ibn Bahr narrated to us: 'Adi ibn Abi 'Imara narrated to us: Ziyad an-Numayri narrated to us: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The devil sets his snout upon the heart of the son of Adam: if he remembers Allah, he withdraws; and if he forgets, he devours his heart: and that is the insinuating withdrawer. »
The remembrance of Allah, being a chaser of the devil from the heart, is a reminder of forgetfulness: « And remember your Lord when you forget » (al-Kahf, 24): « and nothing made me forget to mention Him except the devil » (al-Kahf, 63): « So the devil made him forget the remembrance of his Lord » (al-Kahf, 63): « Mention me before your Lord » (Yousouf, 42): the cupbearer forgot to mention him to his lord, meaning his master the king. And this forgetting was of the devil: so Youssouf remained in prison a few years: « And he who was freed of the two remembered after a while » (Yousouf, 45): he remembered the word of Youssouf: « Mention me before your Lord. » « After a while »: after a forgetting: and what we said, that the forgotten one is the cupbearer, is the correct of the two views, as we established in the Tafsir: and Allah knows best.
Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us: Shu'ba narrated to us: the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) donkey stumbled, and I said: « May the devil be frustrated. » He said: « Do not say "may the devil be frustrated": if you say "may the devil be frustrated", he swells until he becomes like a house, and says: by my strength I felled him; but if you say "In the name of Allah", he shrinks until he becomes like a fly. » Ahmad alone related it, and it is a good isnad. Abu Bakr al-Hanafi narrated to us: ad-Dahhak ibn 'Uthman narrated to us, from Sa'id al-Maqburi: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « When one of you is in the mosque, the devil comes and ties him, as a man ties his beast: when he dozes off, he threads him or hobbles him: you see that: as for the threaded one, you see him leaning, not mentioning Allah; as for the hobbled one, his mouth is open, not mentioning Allah.
» Ahmad alone related it. Ibn Noumayr narrated to us: Thawr, that is Ibn Yazid, narrated to us, from Mak'houl: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The evil eye is a truth: and the devil and the envy of the son of Adam attend it. » Waqi' narrated to us, from Soufyan, from Mansour, from Darr ibn Abdallah al-Hamdani, from Abdallah ibn Chaddad: a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O messenger of Allah, I say to myself something that would be graver to me than a stone falling from the sky: to utter it. « Glory to Allah!
Praise to Allah who reduced his cunning to mere whispering. » And Abu Dawud and an-Nasaï related it from the hadith of Mansour, and al-A'mach: both from Darr.
Yahya ibn Boukayr narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from 'Aqil: 'Ourwa informed me: Abu Hurayra said: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The devil comes to one of you and says: who created this? who created this? until he says: who created your Lord? When he reaches that, let him seek the protection of Allah, and let him stop.
» And thus Muslim related it from the hadith of al-Layth, and from the hadith of az-Zouhri and Hicham ibn 'Ourwa: both, from 'Ourwa. « Those who fear, when a troop of the devil touches them, remember: and they see then. » (al-A'raf, 201) « And say: Lord, I seek refuge in You from the incitements of the devils, and I seek refuge in You, Lord, of their presence. » (al-Mu'minun, 97-98) « And if an incitement of the devil touches you, seek refuge in Allah: He is Hearing, Knowing.
» (Fussilat, 36) « When you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. He has no authority over those who believed and rely upon their Lord. His authority is only over those who take him as an ally, and those who associate others with Him. » (an-Nahl, 98-100)
The imam Ahmad and the people of the Sunan related, from the hadith of Abu al-Moutawakkil: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say: « I seek refuge in Allah, the Hearing, the Knowing, from the stoned devil: from his pinching, his blowing and his spitting. » And there has come its like from the transmission of Joubeir ibn Mut'im, Abdallah ibn Mas'oud and Abu Usama al-Bahili: his pinching is death, and it is the strangling which is the convulsion; his blowing is pride; his spitting is poetry. It is established in the two Sahihs that the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when he entered the place of easing himself, said: « I seek refuge in Allah from the male and the female »: he sought refuge from the male devils and the female devils.
The imam Ahmad related, from Surayj, from Issa ibn Yunus, from Thawr, from al-Husayn, from Abu Sa'd al-Khayr, who was of the companions of 'Oumar: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Let him who goes to relieve himself screen himself: if he finds nothing but to heap up a mound, let him turn his back to it: for the devil plays with the sitting places of the children of Adam. Whoever does that has done well; and whoever does not: no sin. » And Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah related it from the hadith of Thawr ibn Yazid. 'Uthman ibn Abi Chayba narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us, from al-A'mach: Sulayman ibn Sourad saw two men cursing one another before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and one of them said: « I seek refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. » He said: « Do you not hear what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) says? » He replied: « I am not mad. » And Muslim, Abu Dawud and an-Nasaï also related it by routes, from al-A'mach.
Muhammad ibn 'Ubayd narrated to us: 'Ubaydallah ibn 'Oumar narrated to us, from Nafi', that the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Let none of you eat with his left hand nor drink with his left hand: for the devil eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand. » And this is according to the criterion of the two Sahihs with this isnad, and it is in the Sahih by another route. The imam Ahmad related from the hadith of Isma'il ibn Abi Hakim, from 'Ourwa, from Aïsha, that he said: « Whoever eats with his left hand eats with the devil, and whoever drinks with his left hand drinks with the devil. »
Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated to us: Shu'ba informed us, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he saw a man drinking standing: « Why? » « No. » « Set it down. » Ahmad alone related it by this route. Abd ar-Razzaq narrated to us: Ma'mar narrated to us, from az-Zouhri, from a man: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Were the one who drinks standing to know what is in his belly, he would not drink standing. » And Abd ar-Razzaq narrated to us, from Ma'mar, from al-A'mach, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), like the hadith of az-Zouhri.
Moussa narrated to us: Ibn Lahi'a narrated to us: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: « When a man enters his house and mentions the name of Allah upon entering and upon eating, the devil says: you will have no night lodging nor supper here. And if he enters without mentioning the name of Allah upon entering: you will have the night lodging. And if he does not mention the name of Allah upon his food: you will have the night lodging and the supper. » Muhammad narrated to us: 'Abda narrated to us: Muhammad narrated to us, from Hicham ibn 'Ourwa, from his father: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « When the edge of the sun rises, withhold the prayer until it emerges, and when the edge of the sun disappears, withhold the prayer until it disappears: and do not time your prayer with the rising of the sun nor its setting, for it rises between the two horns of the devil, or of the devils.
» Thus said Hicham. And Muslim and an-Nasaï related it from the hadith of Hicham. Abdallah ibn Maslama narrated to us, from Malik, from Abdallah ibn Dinar: I saw the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) pointing toward the east: « Here is the trial, here is the trial, from where rises the horn of the devil. » Thus al-Bukhari related it alone by this route.
And in the Sunan: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade sitting between the sun and the shade, and said: it is the sitting place of the devil. They mentioned in this meanings, among the best of which: when one sits in such a place, the distortion of the silhouette in what is seen is beloved to the devil, for his own form is distorted: and this is established in the minds: « Their shade is as if it were the heads of the devils »: the correct is that they themselves are the devils, not a kind of serpents, as claimed whoever claimed it of the exegetes: and Allah knows best. For in the souls are implanted the ugliness of the devils and the beautiful form of the angels, even if they do not behold them: « Far be it from Allah: this is not a human being: this is but a noble angel. » (Yousouf, 31)
Yahya ibn Ja'far narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Ansari narrated to us: Ibn Jurayj informed me: 'Ata informed me, from Jabir: « When night gathers, hold back your children: for the devils scatter at that moment; when an hour of the evening has passed, release them. Close your door and mention the name of Allah; extinguish your lamp and mention the name of Allah; cover your water-skin and mention the name of Allah; cover your vessel and mention the name of Allah, even by placing something upon it. » And Ahmad related it, from Yahya, from Ibn Jurayj. For the devil does not open a closed door.
Waqi' narrated to us, from Fitr, from Abu az-Zoubayr: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Close your doors, cover your vessels, tie your water-skins, extinguish your lamps: for the devil does not open a closed door, nor uncover a covering, nor untie a water-skin: and the small noxious creature can set the house ablaze upon its inhabitants. » He means the mouse. Adam narrated to us: Shu'ba narrated to us, from Mansour, from Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd, from Kourayb: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « If one of you, when intending to come to his wife, were to say: O Allah, keep the devil away from us, and keep the devil away from what You provide us: should a child be decreed between them, the devil will never harm him, and he will not be set over him. » And al-A'mach narrated to us, from Salim, from Kourayb, from Ibn Abbas, the same.
He also related it from Moussa ibn Isma'il, from Hammam, from Mansour, from Salim, from Kourayb, from Ibn Abbas: « As for you, if one of you, when he comes to his wife, were to say: In the name of Allah, O Allah, keep the devil away from us, and keep the devil away from what You provide us: should a child be decreed for them, the devil will never harm him. »
Isma'il narrated to us: my brother narrated to me, from Sulayman, from Yahya ibn Sa'id, from Sa'id ibn al-Moussayyab: « The devil ties upon the nape of one of you, when he sleeps, three knots: over every knot he strikes its place: The night is long for you, so sleep. If he wakes and remembers Allah, a knot is untied; if he performs ablution, a knot is untied; if he prays, all his knots are untied: he rises then energetic, of good soul; otherwise he rises of evil soul, sluggish. » Thus al-Bukhari related it alone by this route. Ibrahim ibn Hamza narrated to us: Ibn Abi Hazim narrated to me, from Yazid, that is Ibn al-Hadi, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, from Issa ibn Talha, from Abu Hurayra: « When one of you wakes from his sleep and performs ablution, let him snuff water into his nose three times: for the devil has spent the night upon his nose.
» And Muslim related it, from Bichr ibn al-Hakam, from ad-Darawardi, and an-Nasaï, from Muhammad ibn Zounbour, from Abd al-'Aziz ibn Abi Hazim: both, from Yazid ibn al-Hadi. 'Uthman ibn Abi Chayba narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us, from Mansour, from Abu Wa'il: there was mentioned before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) a man who slept his night until morning: « That is a man in whose ears the devil urinated » or: « in his ear. » And Muslim related it, from 'Uthman and Ishaq: both, from Jarir. And al-Bukhari also extracted it, and an-Nasaï and Ibn Majah, from the hadith of Mansour ibn al-Moutamir.
Muhammad ibn Youssouf narrated to us: al-Awza'i informed us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salama: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « When the call to prayer is made, the devil turns away belching: when the call is concluded, he comes back; when the iqama is made, he turns away: when the iqama is concluded, he comes back, until he insinuates himself between a man and his heart: Remember this, remember that: how many rak'a did I pray? three or four? If he does not know whether he prayed three or four, he performs the two prostrations of inattention. » Thus al-Bukhari related it alone by this route.
Aswad ibn 'Amir narrated to us: Ja'far, that is al-Ahmar, narrated to us, from 'Ata ibn as-Sa'ib: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Make the rows straight: for the devils stand in the gaps. » 'Affan narrated to us: Aban narrated to us: Qatada narrated to us: he used to say: « Straighten your rows, draw them close together, align the necks: by Him in whose hand is the life of Muhammad, I see the devil entering through the gaps of the row as if he were the small darting bird. » Abu Ma'mar narrated to us: Abd al-Warith narrated to us: Yunus narrated to us, from Humayd ibn Hilal, from Abu Salih: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « If something passes before one of you, let him ward it off; if it refuses, let him ward it off; if it refuses, let him fight it: for it is only a devil. » And Muslim and Abu Dawud also related it from the hadith of Sulayman ibn al-Moughira, from Humayd ibn Hilal.
Abu Ahmad narrated to us: Masarra ibn Ma'bad narrated to us: I saw 'Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi standing in prayer: I intended to pass before him: he repelled me. Abu Sa'id al-Khoudri narrated to me that the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed at the head, and he was behind him: he recited, and the recitation became confused with him: when he finished his prayer he said: « Had you seen me and Iblis, the thumbs and what follows them, and were it not for the invocation of my brother Sulayman, he would have risen tied to a pillar of the mosque, the children of Medina playing with him: whoever of you can avoid anyone passing between him and the qibla, let him do so. » And to the end of it, from Ahmad ibn Abi Surayj, from Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn az-Zoubayr az-Zoubayri. Mahmoud narrated to us: Chababa narrated to us: Shu'ba narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Abu Hurayra: he prayed a prayer and said: « The devil presented himself to me and strove hard to cut off my prayer: Allah gave me power over him.
» And he mentioned the hadith: Muslim and an-Nasaï related it from the hadith of Shu'ba, at length.
« My Lord, forgive me, and grant me a dominion that does not befit anyone after me: You are the great Bestower. » (Sad, 35) By the route of Rouh and Ghoundar, from Shu'ba, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Abu Hurayra: « Yesterday evening, an ifrit of the jinn flung himself upon me » or a word like it « to cut off my prayer: Allah gave me power over him: I intended to tie him to a pillar of the mosque until you rise and you all look at him, all of you: My Lord, forgive me, and grant me a dominion that does not befit anyone after me: You are the great Bestower. » Rouh sent him back despised. And Muslim related, from the hadith of Abu Idris: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood in prayer and we heard him say: « I seek refuge in Allah from you.
I curse you with the curse of Allah » three times. We said: O messenger of Allah, we heard you say in the prayer something we had not heard you say before, and we saw you extend your hand. « The enemy of Allah, Iblis, came with a brand of fire to place it upon my face: I sought the protection of Allah from him three times; then I cursed him with the complete curse of Allah: he did not delay. Then I intended to seize him: and by Allah, were it not for the invocation of our brother Sulayman, he would have risen bound, a plaything of the children of the people of Medina.
» « Let not the life of this world deceive you, and let not the deceiver deceive you concerning Allah » (Fatir, 5): he means the devil. « The devil is an enemy to you: so take him as an enemy. He only calls his party to be of the companions of the Blaze. » (Fatir, 6)
The devil therefore spares no man: he expends upon him his utmost effort and strength in all his states, his movements and his stillness: the hafiz Abu Bakr Ibn Abi ad-Dunya (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) composed on that a book which he called on that subject, and in it are many benefits.
The messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say in his supplication: « I seek Your protection from the devil confounding me at death. » « O Lord, by Your majesty and Your glory, I will not cease leading them astray so long as their souls are in their bodies. » « And by My majesty and My glory, I will not cease forgiving them so long as they seek My forgiveness. » « The devil promises you poverty and commands you indecency, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and favor: and Allah is All-Encompassing, Knowing.
» (al-Baqara, 268) The promise of Allah is the very truth, and the promise of the devil is falsehood. And at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasaï, Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, and Ibn Abi Hatim in his Tafsir related, from the hadith of 'Ata ibn as-Sa'ib, from Murra al-Hamdani: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The devil has a thrust upon the son of Adam, and the angel has a thrust: as for the thrust of the devil, it is the promise of evil and the denial of the truth; as for the thrust of the angel, it is the promise of good and the affirmation of the truth. Whoever finds that, let him know it is from Allah: let him praise Allah; and whoever finds the other, let him seek refuge from the devil. » And he recited: « The devil promises you poverty and commands you indecency, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and favor: and Allah is All-Encompassing, Knowing.
»
We have already mentioned, in the virtue of sura al-Baqara, that the devil flees the house in which it is recited, and mentioned, in the virtue of the verse of the Throne, that whoever recites it in a night, the devil does not approach him until morning. Abdallah ibn Youssouf informed us: Malik informed us, from Soumayy, from Abu Salih: « Whoever says: There is no deity but Allah alone, without partner: to Him the dominion, to Him the praise, and He is over all things competent, a hundred times in a day: it is the equivalent for him of freeing ten slaves, a hundred good deeds are written for him, a hundred bad deeds are erased from him, and it is a protection for him from the devil that day until evening, and no one brings better than what he brought, except one who did more than that. » And Muslim, at-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah extracted it from the hadith of Malik: good and authentic.
Abu al-Yaman informed us: Shu'ayb informed us, from Abu az-Zinad, from al-A'raj: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Every son of Adam is pricked in his sides by the devil with his finger at the moment he is born, except Issa ibn Maryam, who went to prick him and only pricked the veil. » Al-Bukhari alone related it by this route. 'Asim ibn Ali narrated to us: Ibn Abi Dhi'b narrated to us, from Sa'id al-Maqburi, from his father, from Abu Hurayra: « Yawning comes from the devil: when one of you yawns, let him restrain it as much as he can, for the devil laughs. » Ahmad, Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi related it, and an-Nasaï authenticated it from the hadith of Ibn Abi Dhi'b. And in a wording: « When one of you yawns, let him restrain it as much as he can: for the devil enters. »
Abd ar-Razzaq narrated to us: Soufyan informed us, from Muhammad ibn 'Ajlan, from Sa'id al-Maqburi, from his father: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Allah loves sneezing and dislikes, or hates, yawning: when one of you yawns, ha ha: it is the devil laughing at him from within. » And at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasaï related it from the hadith of Muhammad ibn 'Ajlan.
Al-Hasan ibn ar-Rabi' narrated to us: Abu al-Ahwas narrated to us, from Ach'ath, from his father: Aïsha said: I asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about a man's distracted glancing in the prayer: « It is a theft which the devil steals from the prayer of one of you. » And Abu Dawud and an-Nasaï related it likewise, from the transmission of Ach'ath ibn Abi ach-Cha'tha', Sulaym ibn Aswad al-Mouharibi, from his father, from Masrouq. And al-Bukhari related from the hadith of al-Awza'i, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir: Abdallah ibn Abi Qatada narrated to me: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The righteous dream is from Allah, and the dream is from the devil: when one of you sees a dream he fears, let him spit to his left and seek the protection of Allah from its evil: for it will not harm him.
» Abd ar-Razzaq narrated to us: Ma'mar narrated to us, from Hammam: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « Let none of you walk toward his brother with a weapon: for he does not know: the devil might stir in his hand, and he falls into a pit of the Fire. » The two extracted it from the hadith of Abd ar-Razzaq. « And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and made them stonings against the devils, and We prepared for them the punishment of the Blaze. » (al-Mulk, 5)
« We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment: the stars, and as protection against every rebellious devil: they listen not to the exalted assembly, and they are hurled from every side, repelled: and for them is a lasting punishment. Except whoever snatches a word: a piercing flame pursues him. »
Surat as-Saffat, 6-10
« We placed in the heaven constellations, and adorned it for the beholders, and protected it from every stoned devil: except whoever steals the hearing: a clear flame pursues him. »
Surat al-Hijr, 16-18
« And the devils did not come down with this Quran: it does not befit them, nor are they able: they are far removed from the hearing. »
Surat ash-Shu'ara, 210-212
« And that we touched the heaven and found it filled with stern guards and comets: and that we used to sit there in positions for hearing: but whoever listens now finds a shooting star in ambush for him. »
Surat al-Jinn, 8-9
Al-Bukhari said. And al-Layth said: Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to me, from Sa'id ibn Abi Hilal, that Abu al-Aswad informed him, from 'Ourwa, from Aïsha: the angels speak in the clouds, and the clouds are the cloud, concerning a matter that will be on the earth: the devils hear the word and fix it in the ear of the soothsayer, as one pours into a jug: and they add to it a hundred lies. Thus he related it, suspended, in the description of Iblis, from al-Layth. And he related it in the description of the angels, from Sa'id ibn Abi Maryam, from al-Layth, from 'Ubaydallah ibn Abi Ja'far, from Muhammad ibn Abd ar-Rahman Abu al-Aswad, from 'Ourwa, from Aïsha, in like manner: he alone has these two routes, without Muslim.
And al-Bukhari related in another place, and Muslim, from the hadith of az-Zouhri, from Yahya ibn 'Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr, that Aïsha said: some people asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the soothsayers: he said: « They are nothing. » They said: O messenger of Allah, they sometimes tell us something that turns out to be true. He said: « That word is a word of truth which the jinn steals and gurgles into the ear of his protégé, like the clucking of a hen: and they mix with it a hundred lies. » This is the wording of al-Bukhari.
Al-Humaydi narrated to us: Soufyan narrated to us: I heard 'Ikrima say: I heard Abu Hurayra say: the prophet of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « When Allah decides a matter in the heaven, the angels beat their wings in sublimating glorification according to His saying which is like a chain upon stone: when the fright is shaken from their hearts, they say: what did your Lord say? They say: the truth, and He is the Most High, the Great. The eavesdropper hears it: and the eavesdropper is thus, some above others. » And Soufyan described with his palm, then spread it apart spreading his fingers: « he distorts the word and passes it to the one beneath him, then the next passes it to the one beneath him, until he casts it upon the tongue of the sorcerer or the soothsayer: sometimes the meteor catches him before he passes it, and sometimes he passes it before being caught: and he mixes with it a hundred lies: were we not told, on such and such a day, such and such?
And they hold true that word heard from the heaven. » Al-Bukhari alone related it. And Muslim related, from the hadith of az-Zouhri, from Ali ibn al-Hussein Zayn al-'Abidin, from Ibn Abbas, from men of the Ansar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), similar to this.
« And whoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Merciful, We appoint for him a devil who becomes his companion. They indeed turn them away from the way, while they think they are well guided. Until, when he comes to Us, he says: oh, if only between me and you were the distance of the two easts! What an evil companion.
»
Surat az-Zoukhrouf, 36-39
« And We appointed for them companions who adorn for them what is before them and what is behind them. »
Surat Fussilat, 25
« His companion says: our Lord, I did not lead him astray: he was in far error. He says: do not dispute before Me, while I had already given you the warning: the word is not changed before Me, and I am not unjust to the servants. » (Qaf, 28-29)
« And thus We made for every prophet an enemy: devils of humankind and jinn, inspiring one another with embellished speech as delusion. Had your Lord willed, they would not have done it: so leave them and what they invent. And that the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter may incline to it, and that they may be pleased with it, and that they may commit what they commit. »
Surat al-An'am, 112-113
We have already cited, in the description of the angels, what Ahmad and Muslim related, by the route of Mansour, from Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd, from his father, whose name was Rafi': the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « There is none of you but that his companion of the jinn has been assigned to him, and his companion of the angels. » « And you, O messenger of Allah? » « And me too: but Allah aided me against him, and he commands me only good. »
'Uthman ibn Abi Chayba narrated to us: Jarir narrated to us, from Qabous, from his father, whose name was Houssayn ibn Joundoub: and he is Abu Dhabyan al-Janbi: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « There is none of you but that his companion of the devils has been assigned to him. » « And you, O messenger of Allah? » « Yes: but Allah aided me against him, and he submitted. » Ahmad alone related it, and it is according to the criterion of the Sahih.
Haroun narrated to us: Abdallah ibn Wahb informed us: Abu Sakhr informed me, from Yazid ibn Qousayt: he related that 'Urwa ibn az-Zoubayr related to him that Aïsha related to him that the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went out from her one night, and she grew jealous of him. He came back, and saw what she was doing. She said: O messenger of Allah, do I have a devil? He said: yes.
She said: and every human being? He said: yes. She said: and you, O messenger of Allah? He said: yes: but Allah aided me against him until he submitted.
And thus Muslim related it, from Haroun, who is Ibn Sa'id al-Ayli, with his isnad, in like manner.
Qutayba ibn Sa'id narrated to us: Ibn Lahi'a narrated to us, from Moussa ibn Wardan, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: « The believer subdues his devil, as one of you subdues his camel on a journey. » Ahmad alone related it by this route. That is, he seizes his forelock, overcomes and subdues him, as is done with the camel that ran off then was mastered. He said: « Because You led me astray, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path, then I will come at them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: You will not find most of them grateful. » (al-A'raf, 16-17)
Hachim ibn al-Qasim narrated to us: Abu 'Aqil, who is Abdallah ibn 'Aqil ath-Thaqafi, narrated to us: Moussa ibn al-Moussayyab narrated to us, from Salim ibn Abi al-Ja'd: I heard the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: « The devil has posted his ambushes for the son of Adam: he posted for him at the way of Islam: would you become Muslim, forsaking your religion and the religion of your fathers? He disobeyed him and embraced Islam. Then he posted for him at the way of emigration: would you emigrate, forsaking your land and your sky? The emigrant is only like the racehorse in its stride.
He disobeyed him and emigrated. Then he posted for him at the way of jihad: to fight, and be killed: your wife will remarry, and the wealth will be divided? He disobeyed him and strove in jihad: whoever does that of them has a right upon Allah to enter him into Paradise: if he is killed, he has a right upon Allah to enter him into Paradise; if he drowns, he has a right upon Allah to enter him into Paradise; and if his beast breaks his neck, he has a right upon Allah to enter him into Paradise. »
Waqi' narrated to us: 'Ubada ibn Muslim al-Fazari narrated to us: the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would not leave these supplications in the morning and in the evening: « O Allah, I ask You well-being in this world and the Hereafter. O Allah, I ask You pardon and well-being in my religion, my worldly life, my family and my wealth. O Allah, conceal my faults, and reassure my fears. O Allah, guard me from before me, from behind me, from my right, from my left, and from above me, and I seek refuge in Your greatness from being swallowed beneath me. » He means sinking into the ground. And Abu Dawud, an-Nasaï, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban and al-Hakim related it from the hadith of 'Ubada ibn Muslim: authentic of isnad.