Yā-Sīn: (60) Did I not make a covenant with you...

When God Almighty mentioned the state of the believers and the criminals, someone might ask: Indeed, man is very unjust and very ignorant, and ignorance is an excuse. God mentioned this in the absence of a warning. The paths have already been clarified by the clarification of the Messengers. "And We made a covenant with you, and We recited to you what you ought to do and what you ought not to do." There are several issues in this verse:

Issue 1: Regarding the linguistic variations in {أَعْهَدْ} (A'had)

There are many variations:

1. The first is the kasra (short 'i' sound) on the hamza of A'had, and all future tense prefixes are vocalized with kasra except for the yā' (so one does not say ya'lamu but ya'lama [in this context]).
2. The second is the kasra on the hā' (H) from the pattern ḍaraba yaḍribu (to strike).
3. The third is the substitution of the 'ayn (middle radical) with a jīm (J), resulting in A'jahad (ألم أجهد), which occurs in every word where the 'ayn is followed by a hā' (H).
4. The fourth is the assimilation of the hā' into the ḥā' (Ḥ) after the substitution, resulting in A'ḥadd (ألم أحد). Some people have been heard saying daḥā maḥā (دحاء محا), meaning "leave it with it."

Issue 2: Regarding the meaning of {أَعْهَدْ} (A'had)

The closest meanings are: "Did I not enjoin upon you?" (ألم أوص إليكم).

Issue 3: Regarding this covenant

There are several interpretations:

1. It is the covenant made with our father Adam, as stated: {And We had taken a covenant from Adam} (Ṭā-Hā: 115).
2. It is the covenant made with the progeny of Adam, as stated: {Am I not your Lord?" They said, "Yes, indeed"} (Al-A'rāf: 172). This implies that they should not worship anyone other than God.
3. This is the strongest view: It was a covenant made with every nation through its Messenger. This is why the rational people agree that Satan commands evil, even if they differ on the reality and manner of this command.

Issue 4: Regarding the statement {لَا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ} (Do not worship Satan)

This means: Do not obey him. The evidence is that what is forbidden is not merely prostrating to him, but rather submitting to his command and obeying him, for obedience is worship (ibādah).

One might object: "Then we are commanded to worship rulers when God says: {Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you} (An-Nisā’: 59)."

We reply: Their obedience, when it is by God's command, is nothing but worship of God and obedience to Him. How could it be otherwise? Even the act of prostration or bowing to another, if done by God's command, is only worship of God. Do you not see that the angels prostrated to Adam, and that was only worship of God? Obedience to rulers becomes ibādah of Satan only when it involves obeying them in what God has not permitted.

If it is asked: "How do we distinguish the obedience of Satan from the obedience of the Merciful, since we hear no news from Satan nor see any trace of him?"

We reply: The worship of Satan is in disobeying God's command or doing what God commands because Satan commanded it. At times, Satan commands you through someone else, and at other times, he commands you through yourself (your nafs). If a person comes to you commanding something, look: if it conforms to God's command, then that person is with Satan commanding you what he commands. If you obey him, you have worshipped Satan. If your own nafs calls you to an act, look: is it permitted by the Sharia or not? If it is not permitted, then your nafs is with Satan, or Satan is calling you. If you follow it, you have worshipped him.

Furthermore, Satan first commands open defiance of God. Whoever obeys him has worshipped him. Whoever does not obey him does not necessarily turn away from Satan; rather, Satan might say to him: "Worship God so you are not humiliated, so your status rises among people, and so your brethren and supporters benefit from you." If he agrees, he has worshipped Satan.

However, the worship of Satan occurs in degrees. Some actions are committed while the doer's inner self (jinān), tongue, and limbs are in agreement. Other actions occur while the inner self and tongue contradict the limbs or the physical actions.

Some people commit a sin unwillingly, hating in their hearts what their limbs are committing, seeking forgiveness from their Lord, acknowledging the evil they commit. This is the worship of Satan through the external limbs.

Others commit it while their heart is content and their tongue is moist. You find many people rejoice in frequenting the doors of the wicked for lobbying, and they consider it a virtue to be associated with kings and boast about it. They rejoice in commanding the king to commit injustice and the king obeying them, or they rejoice in the king commanding them to be unjust, and they commit injustice, happy with the command they received.

If you understand this, the obedience expressed through the external limbs while the inner states are pure is expiated by sickness and pain, as mentioned in the narrations. For example, the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Fever is from the breaths of Hell," and "The sword is an expiation for sins," meaning for such sins. This is supported by his saying regarding legal punishments (Ḥudūd): "Indeed, they are expiations."

What occurs in the heart has no escape except through repentance, regret, and the heart's turning toward the Lord. What occurs by the tongue is similar to what occurs by the heart outwardly.

The analogy clarifies the situation: If a Sultan has a minister (amīr) who has close attendants (ghilmān) who are close to the Sultan, and they have followers from the common people. If the minister shows hostility or secret dealings with the Sultan's enemy, the King will not forgive this unless he is extremely forgiving, or the minister has a prior favor, or offers subsequent repentance. If the minister's close attendants commit an act of disobedience, and the Sultan knows about it but does not reprimand them, the disobedience is counted against him. If he hates it and shows outward disapproval, he deserves reprimand but not punishment, because the audacity of his close circle to disobey indicates poor upbringing. If the disobedience comes from distant retainers and reaches the Sultan, and he does not reprimand them, the Sultan is reprimanded. If he reprimands them, the Sultan deserves honor for that reprimand. It is good for the King to bestow kindness upon the reprimanded if he knows the reprimand was effective.

If you understand this, the heart is the minister, the tongue is its close attendant, and the limbs are its servants. What issues from the heart is the greatest sin. If it inclines toward loving other than God, that is the great woe and manifest misguidance leading to painful punishment and humiliating torment. What issues from the tongue is counted against the heart, and the tongue's claim is not accepted unless the heart denies the action. What issues from the limbs, while the heart has shown disapproval and achieved restraint, is the sin about which the Prophet (PBUH) narrated that his Lord said: "If you did not sin, God would have created people who sin, seek forgiveness, and He would forgive them."

Here is a subtlety: Satan may withdraw from a servant of God in triumph, thinking he has achieved his goal of misguidance when he sees that servant committing an outward sin. This very sin might raise the servant's rank, because the sin breaks the servant's heart, freeing him from self-admiration and self-worship, bringing him closer to the near ones. This is because the one who sins is close to God, as He says: {They have degrees with their Lord} (Al-Anfāl: 4). The repentant, regretful sinner has a broken heart, and God is with him, as the Prophet (PBUH) narrated God saying: "I am with the broken-hearted."

There is a difference between one who is with God (i.e., close to Him) and one who has God with him (i.e., supported by Him). Perhaps the sins attributed to the Prophets are of this nature, so that they might attain virtue over the angels who boasted of themselves by saying: {And we exalt [You] with praise of You and sanctify You} (Al-Baqarah: 30).

Sometimes, Satan withdraws from another person who was commanded to do something but did not do it. The person thinks he has overcome Satan and sent him back empty-handed, boasting to himself, unaware that Satan withdrew because he achieved his objective, accepted and not rejected.

From this, an essential principle becomes clear: People differed on whether a sinner falls out of faith or not. The cause of the dispute is that the observers looked at two different things: the sin committed by the body but not the heart does not lead to disbelief; rather, it might even increase faith. But the sin committed by the heart is feared to lead to exiting the bond of faith. This is why they differed regarding the infallibility of the Prophets from sins. The more likely view is that bodily sins are permissible for them (as the Qur'an indicates), but sins of the heart are not permissible for them.

Then, after forbidding the worship of Satan, the Almighty mentioned what compels them to accept what they are commanded and refrain from what they are forbidden, by saying: {Indeed, he is to you an open enemy}. There are issues concerning this:

Issue 1: When did the enmity between Satan and man originate?

We say: Its beginning was from Satan, and the cause was God's honoring of the Prophet Adam. When Iblīs saw his Lord honor Adam and his progeny, he became hostile toward them. God, in turn, became hostile toward him. The first hostility (from Iblīs) is due to meanness, while the second (from God) is due to honor. The meanness of Iblīs is because if a king honors someone, and this does not diminish the status of another, there is no scarcity in the treasury, so hostility toward the honored one can only be meanness. As for God's hostility, when the King knows that His honor is solely from Him—because the weak one could not have reached such a station without the King's honor—He knows that whoever hates the honored one is implicitly denying the King's action or attributing scarcity to His treasury, both of which warrant punishment. Thus, God becomes hostile to him to complete the honor and perfect the favor. Furthermore, many people follow Iblīs's path: when they see someone respected by a king, they hate him and seek to undermine him, following the Sunnah of Iblīs. If the king is not adorned with the attributes of God, he might not reject the slanderer, listen to him, and abandon the honor and respect of that person.

Issue 2: How was Satan's enmity made manifest?

We say: When God honored Adam, Iblīs became hostile to him and thought he would remain in his station while Adam was in his. They were like two people disliked by the King. God, knowing the inner thoughts, expelled him and revealed his affair. Iblīs then revealed what he had hidden, as the reason for concealment was gone, saying: {I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path} (Al-A'rāf: 16) and {I will surely seize upon his descendants} (Al-Isrā’: 62).

Issue 3: If Satan is an open enemy to man, why does man incline toward what pleases Satan, like drinking and adultery, and dislike what displeases him, like striving and worship?

We say: The reason is Satan's reliance on aids from within man and man's abandonment of seeking aid from God. He seeks aid from desire (shahwah), which God created in him for the sake of his survival and the survival of his species, but he uses it as a means for the corruption of his state, leading him toward the paths of ruin. Similarly, he seeks aid from anger, which God created to repel harm, and he uses it as a cause for his downfall and the corruption of his state.

Man's inclination toward sins is like a sick person's inclination toward harmful things, which happens when the temperament deviates from balance. You see a feverish person desiring cold water, which he desires in his illness. One with a stomach ailment cannot digest much food and tends to overeat, which further spoils his stomach. A person with a balanced temperament desires only what benefits him.

The world is like pestilential air; man cannot do without inhaling it, even though it corrupts his temperament. There is no way for him except to purify the air with good scents, pure things, and sprinkling vinegar and rosewater, which are among the purifiers. Similarly, man in the world cannot do without its affairs, which are the objects of Satan's attention. His path is to curtail desire by reducing indulgence and to correct desire through good remembrance and asceticism (zuhd). When the temperament of his intellect becomes sound, he will only incline toward the truth, and there will be no hardship left in the obligations. Then, he will find familiarity with the divine matters, and Satan will confess that he has no authority over him.

{And worship Me. This is a straight path.}