The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 334
CH. 14 IBRAHİM PT. 13 لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمُ there shall, surely, be a grievous punishment. ' 1677 وَأُدْخِلَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّلِحَتِ And those who believe and. 24 do good works will be admitted 1677. Important Words: "10:10; 22:24. (succour you) and (succour me) are both derived from which means, he called or called out; or he cried or he cried out vehemently; he called or cried for aid or succour or, transitively, he succoured or aided someone. also means, he succoured or aided; he came to the help of the means, aiding or succouring; or an aider or succourer (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: By uttering the words, I can<mark>not</mark> succour you, Satan disclaims the possession of any power to lead man astray. It is indeed true that Satan has no power over man. He is only an instrument for the manifestation of man's weaknesses, just as angels are instruments for the manifestation of his good qualities. In reality man is led astray by his own baser self, for, as the verse puts it, Satan only calls and it is man who obeys. The function of Satan is merely to make evil suggestions, just as the function of angels is to make good suggestions. Angels can<mark>not</mark> make a man good, nor can Satan make him bad. They only show the way, good or bad, and man does the rest. It may appear paradoxical on Satan's part to claim, as he has done in this verse, that he asserted the 1542 <mark>Unity</mark> of <mark>God</mark> and disclaimed association with Him. In a sense it is true, because he who is conscious of <mark>God</mark>'s glory and has actually witnessed it can<mark>not</mark> be guilty of shirk (setting up equals to <mark>God</mark>). Shirk comes into being when man accepts Satan's evil suggestions and disobeys <mark>God</mark>. Satan may thus be likened to arsenic. So long as arsenic does <mark>not</mark> enter the system of man in toxic quantity, it is a valuable drug, but when man makes a wrong use of it, it becomes a deadly poison. Similarly, before Satan enters the spiritual system of man he is but a test-question and <mark>not</mark>hing more. Indeed, Satan is only an agent deputed to expose human weaknesses and frailties. But here arises a question. If Satan has no power over man, why will he be punished with Hellfire? This question is answered in 7:13, where Satan is represented as having been created of fire. How can a thing which is created of fire be said to be punished when cast into fire? A burning piece of coal is <mark>not</mark> tormented when thrown into a furnace. This is why perhaps some of the <mark>my</mark>stics in Islam have held the view that it is <mark>not</mark> Satan, but his manifestations and vicegerents that will be punished. Satan, they say, is but an agent meant to try the mettle of man and only performs his functions.