Welcome to our weekly program "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an. We start from where we left you last Friday and here are ayahs 79 to 81 of Surah Sad:

"He (Iblis the Satan) said, ‘My Lord! Respite me till the day they will be resurrected."

"Said He (the Almighty Creator), ‘You are indeed among the reprieved;"

"(But) until the day of the known time."

Last week we had said that God Almighty, Who as a trial had allowed Iblis the genie to join the company of angels, expelled him as the accursed Satan because of disobeying divine commandment to prostrate to the first created human being, Adam, and moreover, without the least regret or repentance, insisting in an irrational and intransigent manner that he himself was superior than the first man.

The ayahs that we recited to you now mean to say that Satan the outcast asked God Almighty to give him respite from death until the Resurrection Day so that he could mislead mankind, since instead of acknowledging his sin of disobedience of divine command, he is blaming the creation of Adam for his downfall with the intention to take revenge.

God the All-Wise and Merciful, agreed to give the Satan respite from death, but until “Waqt il-Ma’loum” or the Known Time, and definitely not until Day of Resurrection. The Known Time, according to exegetes is either the end of human life on earth, or the day of reappearance of God Almighty’s last proof, the Saviour of mankind, Imam Mahdi (AS), the 12^th and Last Infallible Heir of the Best of creation Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).

In explaining these ayahs, the Prophet’s First Infallible Heir, Imam Ali (as) says: The reason Allah the All-Merciful gave respite to Iblis was the fact that his trial had been completed and as a sentenced convict he no longer had any place or position.

Satan now changed his envy to deep enmity towards Adam and all mankind, vowing to use the respite given to him to mislead human beings, who would die but he would be alive to tempt the next generations, although the aberration of each of them was a new burden of sin on his shoulders.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Ignorance and arrogance of Iblis brought about his downfall and his intransigence for seeking revenge instead of forgiveness from God the All-Merciful, made him accursed for all time.
2. It is easy for God the Almighty Creator to grant long life to anyone he deems, whether he is good or bad.
3. The fall of Iblis as the accursed Satan was not his refusal to acknowledge the Oneness and Power of God or disbelief in the Day of Resurrection, but arrogance, ignorance, intransigence, obstinacy and irrationality – similar to the Wahhabi heretics of our own days, who are in total deviation but refuse to realize it.

Now we listen to or read ayahs 82 and 83 of Surah Sad:

"He (the Satan) said, ‘By Your might, I will surely pervert them;"

"Except Your exclusive servants among them."

These ayahs mean to say that by the Might of God, the Satan swore to mislead mankind as long as he is alive, but admitted he had no power to tempt the chosen or exclusive servants of God, who are so firm in faith that nothing can derail them from the right path, such as the Prophets, the Infallible Imams, and the Pious ones.

An important point to note is that though God gave respite to the Satan to tempt and mislead mankind, He the Almighty did not grant him absolute power over human beings to force them to do his bidding. It means that those who go astray do so because of their own weak will and faith that make them followers of the deceitful path shown by the devil, when they could have used self-control and the power of resistance to keep the Satan away, as the pious persons do.

The Satan himself also admits that he is unable and cannot mislead the devout servants of God.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. As God cautions in several ayahs of the holy Qur’an, the Satan is the archenemy of mankind, and has sworn to mislead human beings, which means we ought to be on guard against the devil’s temptations.
2. At times a single sin leads to committing of more and greater sins, and this is because of the weakness, lack of faith and inability of certain people to resist the temptations of the Satan, who turns the children of Adam into thieves, killers, abusers, occupiers, and all sorts of sinners.
3. Resistance against the temptations of the Satan requires firm belief, disenchantment with the glare and dazzle of worldly life, and complete devotion to God through sincere observance of Divine Commandments, without letting negative tendencies pervert or discolour even acts of worship.

AS/ME