You may wonder: how can I avoid being taken away from the remembrance of Al’lah by Satan? In the verse, it says that Satan made the prophet forget his Provider because he was talking with unjust people. The Almighty then advises His noble messenger (cpth) to remind these unjust people about God, but not to sit in long discussion with them. It seems that the devil had power over the prophet in this example, so how can I be safe from this evil, when I am weaker than the prophet?
Now let us explain the true meaning of this verse, wherein the Almighty says: “When you meet those who speak wrongly about Our Revelation, turn away from them till they engage in some other talk, lest Satan may cause you to forget. So, do not sit with unjust people after preaching to them.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 6, Al-An’am (Livestock), verse 68
Out of the messenger’s (cpth) tenderness and care for people, when he found them in error as they spoke about the noble verses, he became confused by their arguments. This was because their spiritual states were imprinted on him due to his eagerness and desire to allow them to receive guidance. That was why the Almighty ordered him not to sit with them. Accordingly, he only reminded them of God, and then left the gathering. The phrase “…turn away from them…” means to raise them off your spirit: do not allow your heart to cling to them, and turn yourself to something else.
The phrase “…lest Satan may cause you (Mohammed (cpth) to forget…” refers to how, if he (cpth) failed to behave in such a way, Satan would have made him forget the proof and evidence of his Provider. If you listen closely to such people, their states will be impressed on the brilliant sheer mirror of your clear spirit. So, they shall cause you to forget the importance of remembering your Provider, and subsequently, you will be unable to make recommendations or reveal anything to them. The word ‘Satan’ mentioned in this noble verse is intended to refer to a devil of humankind, as these wrongdoers are the devils of humankind rather than of jinn-kind, and therefore people should not incline to them with their hearts or hearken to those who have turned away from Al’lah, lest their negative spiritual states be imprinted on people’s clear spirits.
Say the word of righteousness and leave. “…so, do not sit with unjust people after preaching to them…”: after reminding them of their Provider; “…with unjust people”: meaning that they are unjust to themselves firstly, and afterwards, unjust to others. Out of the prophet’s sympathy and tenderness towards them he became confused. This was a consequence of the imprinting of their states on his spirit when he was suffering severe pain and was deeply affected by them. So he became greatly distressed, until he was on the verge of being unable to know what to say to guide them. Such a situation is normal, since Al’lah’s messenger is a human being who feels affected by events and is sometimes sad, which is the same state as any of the prophets (ptt).
So it was with our master Moses (pth), who was dwelling in Pharaoh’s palace, but was engaged in his supreme spiritual world and did not care about Pharaoh’s people. This was because this was at a time before he had been charged by Al’lah with guiding them, whereas they themselves were engrossed in their own world. The position of our master Mohammad (cpth) was similar to this before he had been charged with his mission, at which time he always kept himself away from Quraysh’s amusing and careless gatherings which indulged in the dissoluteness that resulted from ignorance of Al’lah, isolating himself from the people, in spite of his good fortune, along with his wealthy wife, our mother Khadeejah (may Al’lah be pleased with her). Thus he lived alone in his lofty spiritual world, paying no attention to infidelity and its people, contemplating and deeply considering God’s Graces in the mountains of Mecca in He’ra Cave. But when he was charged with guiding his people (cpth), he turned towards them with his noble spirit with the aim of leading them. His spirit was pure and spotless for being free of the dirt of this lower life, whereas, on the other hand, the spirits of his people were filled with its filth and dirt. In addition, their offensive hearts hurt God’s messenger (cpth), who was aiming to get them out of darkness and into the light, and since they were turning away from the path of righteousness and were committing sins, his chest became painfully filled with distress when he directed himself to guiding them, and consequently he became unable to inform them of his Provider’s message. Similarly, that was the normal spiritual status of having feelings of grief that was experienced by our master Moses (pth) when confronting Pharaoh and his people. That’s why our master Moses had previously asked his Provider to send our master Aron – his brother – with him, to aid him when he faced the people. For when he (pth) would direct his noble spirit towards them in an effort to guide them, the Godly Manifestation coming down over him would overwhelm them. But since their spirits failed to become righteous, this made him feel depressed by the devils of humankind who had shunned righteousness, so that their spirits were filled with evil, just like those mentioned in the noble verse. So our master Moses would center the direction of his heart upon his brother Aron, feeling comfortable with his pure spiritual company, illuminated by God, and thus being able to face Pharaoh and his kinsfolk strongly and effectively. Concerning the request of our master Moses (cpth), the Almighty says: “He (Moses) said: ‘My Provider! May you please relieve my heart, facilitate my state, and untie the knot in my tongue, so that they may discern my utterance’.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 20, Ta Ha ‘Ta-ha’ (Pure), verse 25-28
God also made another statement in another fortress through the tongue of our master Moses (pth): from the Holy Qur’an: “He said: ‘My Provider! I fear they may charge me with lying; then my chest will be gloomy and my tongue will cease to utter fluently, so would you please send for Aron too!’.”: this was because his spirit was pure, whereas Pharaoh’s people had foul hearts due to their mean deeds and their drawing far from Al’lah, the source of all goodness. Therefore when he turned towards them he became extremely upset.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 26, Ash-Shu’ara’ (The Poets), verse 12-13
Then he continued his saying: “and let me have a supporter of my family; let him be Aron, my brother, with whom You consolidate my power. May You give him a share in Your command to me to preach to them, so that we may overwhelm them with Your praise so much and remind them of You so much.”: thus, He appealed for the sending of this untainted spirit so that the two pure spirits could lean on each other, which would enable them to present confuting evidence and aid the truth.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 20, Ta Ha ‘Ta-ha’ (Pure), verse 29-34
These matters are confirmed by psychology and can never be denied, for how could our master Mohammad (cpth) not feel aggrieved, since Al’lah the Almighty says: “Then, you may wish to conceal some of that which has been inspired for you…”: he did not want to inform them of some of the noble verses, for they were still ignorant about Al’lah and vulgar; “…feeling aggrieved with announcing it (to them)”: i.e. feeling distressed, as his noble spirit had become deeply dejected, for they disapproved of him and never appreciated him, as they aspired to nothing except this lower life.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 11, Hud (Hud), verse 12
Regarding this, the Almighty also says: “We know that your chest becomes sorely distressed due to what they say.”: that is: when they were saying these things, the messenger’s heart became greatly dispirited, as he wished goodness for them and yet they were accusing him of lying, so he took it to heart because of his great mercy and tenderness for them.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 15, Al-Hijr (Stone Buildings), verse 97
The Almighty refers to that in his saying: “Oh Ta-Ha…”: meaning pure, referring to Mohammad (cpth). “…it was not to distress you that we have revealed the Qur’an to you”: the meaning is that the prophet would not be deprived of rest or ease in this life by experiencing pain on behalf of creation, because people had not received God’s guidance from him at this time. At this point in the Qur’an, after he had received the revelation from God, Mohammad (cpth) was very upset because the people did not yet know the truth, and he wanted to share it with them. He wanted to allow people to escape from darkness and come into the Godly light, so that they could reach paradise and avoid hell. He found it difficult to rest and feel at ease at this time because he was concerned with the people’s spiritual condition. For this reason, God revealed this verse to him so that he would feel more comfortable and not worry about people so much, because they still had no true knowledge of Al’lah. This verse showed that he would achieve his wish to help people, but it would not happen immediately.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 20, Ta Ha ‘Ta-ha’ (Pure), verse 1-2
Concerning this explanation of enduring spiritual distress and heartfelt sorrow on behalf of creation, the prophet Mohammad (cpth) said: “The most afflicted and distressed people are the prophets, and next are the perfect and worthy men, and then the most alike to them and so on.”[41]
Clearly, through these noble verses the Provider of the worlds praises the prophet’s qualities (cpth), for he never spared any effort in saving His obedient followers to make them happy by getting them out of the depths of darkness and into the light, which made him attain Al’lah’s satisfaction with him.
You may wonder: How could Satan whisper to our master Adam (pth) as was undoubtedly mentioned in the Noble Qur’an?! Before starting to unveil the reality of this case, we should clarify its facts, starting with the following: