Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:210

"And it was not brought down by..."

They used to say: "Muhammad is a soothsayer, and what is sent down to him is of the same nature as what the devils bring down to the soothsayers."

So, [God] refuted them by stating that this [the Quran] is something the devils cannot facilitate, nor are they capable of it; for they are pelted with shooting stars and barred from hearing the speech of the inhabitants of heaven.

Al-Hasan read it as: (Al-Shayatin) [with an 'o' sound]. The reasoning for this is that he viewed its ending like the ending of Yabrin and Filastin. He exercised the choice between applying the inflection to the nun or to the letter preceding it, saying: Al-Shayatin and Al-Shayaton, just as the Arabs exercised the choice between saying: "This is Yabrun and Yabrin," and "Filastun and Filastin."

It is appropriate to derive it from al-shaytuta, which means destruction, just as it is called al-batil (falsehood).

Al-Farra’ said: "The Sheikh erred in his reading (Al-Shayaton), thinking it was the nun that follows two letters."

Al-Nadr ibn Shumayl replied: "If it is permissible to use the poetry of Al-Ajjaj and Ru'bah as evidence, why is it not permissible to use the speech of Al-Hasan and his companion?"—meaning Muhammad ibn al-Sumayqa'—"especially since we know that they would not have recited it thus unless they had heard it [from an authority]."

"So do not invoke with Allah another deity, lest you be among the punished. And warn your closest kindred."