Tafsir of Al-Nas 114:4

Surah An-Nas (The People): (4) From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.

His statement, the Exalted, is: $\text{{min sharri l-waswāsi l-khannās}} (From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws).

• Al-Waswās (the whisperer) is a noun meaning waswasa (the act of whispering), similar to how zilzāl (earthquake) means zilzala (the act of shaking). The verbal noun (masdar) is waswās with a kasra (like zilzāl).
• What is intended here is Satan, named after the verbal noun, as if the whispering is inherent to his very being (fi nafsihi) because it is his craft and the preoccupation upon which he is constantly engaged. This is analogous to His statement: \text{{Innahu 'amalun ghayru sālih}} (Indeed, it is an unrighteous deed), where the meaning is "the doer of the unrighteous deed."
• The detailed discussion regarding waswasa has already preceded in the verse: \text{{Fa-waswasa lahumā sh-shaytān}} (Then Satan whispered to them both).
• As for Al-Khannās (the one who withdraws/recedes), it is that which habitually retreats (yakhnis), derived from khnūs, which means to fall back or delay, similar to 'awāj (crookedness) or naffāthāt (those who blow).
• According to Sa'id ibn Jubayr, when a person remembers his Lord, Satan retreats and turns away. But when he becomes heedless, Satan whispers to him.

\text{{Alladhī yuwaswisu fī ṣudūri n-nās}}$ (Who whispers into the breasts of mankind).