Except Your Sincere Servants

As for Shayṭān — Iblīs, that being his particular name, whereas shayṭān is the general term, but Iblīs the particular one, the arch-shayṭān — he used to keep company with them; he was a worshipper before. He used to worship Allah. They say that he worshipped Allah in a great many places, and that is why he used to mingle with the angels. But when he did this, he became the rejected one.

And subḥānAllāh, he changes at once. Because it was destined; it changes at once. He asks for respite. After refusing, and being cast out and made the rejected one, he then asks for respite. He is given respite, and immediately he makes a promise, and makes it very plain that he will mislead everyone. Perhaps that is a good thing — so at least we know. Perhaps it is a good thing, so at least we know. So he says that he will stand in their path, and mislead them, and distract them, and see to it that none of them worships You.

But here is a truly beautiful part. Iblīs himself first says, in verse 40:

Illā ʿibādaka minhumu al-mukhlaṣīn: I shall mislead everyone except Your sincere servants. So let a man develop sincerity. Many say: we have been fighting the devil for years and years, all our lives. The way out of it is to become a sincere believer in Allah. That is how the shayṭān will keep away — and by having the dhikr of Allah upon one's lips and in one's heart. We shall be protected, in shāʾ Allāh, from the shayṭān; for this is what the shayṭān himself says, that he cannot touch the mukhliṣīn.

Then Allah says that this is the straight path to Me; and as for My servants, My true servants, ʿibādī laysa laka ʿalayhim sulṭān: you shall have no power against them, illā mani ittabaʿaka mina al-ghāwīn — except those who would follow you, those deviant ones who would follow you.