Fatir · Makki · ayah 6 of 45

Fatir 35:6

إِنَّ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنَ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ فَٱتَّخِذُوهُ عَدُوًّا ۚ إِنَّمَا يَدْعُوا۟ حِزْبَهُۥ لِيَكُونُوا۟ مِنْ أَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ

“Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Satan is your enemy, so treat him as one: every invitation he sends has a fixed purpose, to bring those who answer into the Blaze.

A reflection

You cannot buy peace from this enemy

Anyone with an enemy has two broad choices, one classical commentator observes. You can meet the enmity with enmity. Or you can try to make it go away by pleasing him. The ayah commands the first. Its second sentence explains why the second is closed.

Innamā yadʿū ḥizbahu li-yakūnū min aṣḥāb al-saʿīr: he only calls his party so that they will be among the people of the Blaze. The commentator draws the conclusion. Appeasing this enemy gains nothing. Please him and follow him, and he leads you only to the fire. There is no settlement on offer, because he does not want something from you. He wants you.

Modern businesses have learned this the hard way. A small accountancy firm is hit by ransomware. Its files are locked, and a message demands payment in cryptocurrency. The partners pay to make it stop. The files come back. Within months they are hit again, by the same gang or one that bought its list. They have been marked as a firm that pays. Appeasement did not end the relationship. It confirmed it.

The strategic lesson is plain. Before negotiating with an opponent, ask what he actually wants. A rival who wants market share can be bargained with. A competitor who wants a contract can be outbid, or even partnered. An opponent whose aim is your ruin cannot be satisfied by any concession short of ruin.

So the small surrenders people make to a temptation, hoping it will then leave them alone, rarely work. 'Just this once, and then I'll be free of it' is a ransom payment.

The ayah's realism is a kindness. It spares you years of paying an enemy who was never going to leave. Settle the question once: this one is not a negotiating partner.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.