The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary

by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

d So incite whomsoever thou canst among them with thy voice, and bear down upon them with thy cavalry and thy infantry, and be their partner in wealth and children, and make them promises.” Satan promises them naught but delusion. 64 So incite whomsoever thou canst should not be understood as a command to Iblīs, but rather as an indication that God will not interfere in the struggle between Iblīs and humanity (Z). It may also be a challenge meant to reveal Iblīs’s ultimate weakness (Q), since he has no power over God’s servants (v. 65). Many commentators nonetheless raised the issue of why God would grant Satan respite and allow him to tempt people in these various ways. According to some Muʿtazilite thinkers, God did this in order to intensify the moral challenges facing human beings in this world and thus provide them with greater opportunity to be rewarded in the Hereafter (R). That Iblīs (or Satan) incites with his voice may refer to any of the various means by which he attempts to mislead human beings (Q, R, Ṭ). Some commentators suggest that with thy voice may refer to Satan’s misleading human beings through singing or music (IK, Q, R, Ṭ), and this verse was often cited by those who maintained that singing and music should be prohibited in Islam (Q). The verse does not, however, explicitly mention music or singing, and the mention of Satan’s voice as the instrument of his provocations is more likely an allusion to Satan “whispering” his inducements to people (see 7:...

Talks about the permissability of Music.

) And say, “It is the truth from your Lord! So whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve.” Verily We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose canopies will encompass them. And if they plead for relief, they will be showered with water like molten lead that will scald faces—an evil drink indeed, and how evil a resting place!