Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:99

"Indeed, he has no authority..."

The pronoun refers to the matter at hand or to Satan. "He has no authority," meaning no dominance or mastery, "over those who believe and rely upon their Lord."

This means they entrust their affairs solely to Him, the Almighty, and not to anyone else, and they seek refuge in Him. The intended meaning is to negate [Satan’s] dominance following the command to seek refuge; thus, the sentence serves as a justification for that command or for the response intended by it—that is, "He will grant you refuge," and the like.

Some have said: The intention is to negate such dominance absolutely. Abu Hayyan stated: "This is what the apparent wording of the report requires." This was countered by the argument that if he truly has no dominance at all, why were they commanded to seek refuge from him? It was answered that the intention is to negate dominance of a significant nature. Ibn Jarir and others recorded from Sufyan al-Thawri that he said regarding this verse: "He has no authority to compel them to commit a sin for which they will not be forgiven. Rather, the seeking of refuge is from minor matters; they do not obey his commands nor accept his whispers except in trivial things, and even then, only rarely and through negligence. Thus, they were commanded to seek refuge from him out of extra care for their preservation."

Al-Baydawi followed this view and then added: "The mention of [his lack of] authority following the command to seek refuge is to prevent the assumption that he does have authority."

In al-Kashf, it is stated that this sentence functions as an explanation for the command to seek refuge, and that mere words—devoid of seeking shelter in God—are insufficient. Seeking shelter is achieved first by faith and second by reliance [tawakkul]. Since this is the case, the reason for omitting the conjunction is clear. The preference for the past tense in the first relative clause [who have believed] is to indicate certainty, just as the selection of the imperfect tense in the second [and rely] is to convey continuous, recurring action. The mention of the attribute of Lordship serves to emphasize the negation of Satan’s authority over those believers who rely upon Him.