Tafseer of The Bee · An-Nahl · 16:63
By Allah, We did certainly send [messengers] to nations before you, but Satan made their deeds attractive to them. And he is the disbelievers' ally today [as well], and they will have a painful punishment.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah, exalted is His mention, says — while swearing by Himself, praised and exalted is He, to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: By Allah, O Muḥammad, We sent before you messengers to their peoples with the same thing with which We have sent you to your community — namely the call to the oneness of Allah (tawḥīd), sincerity of worship to Him, submission to obedience to Him, and the renunciation of idols and gods. فَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ (But Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them) — that is to say: Satan beautified for them that upon which they persisted of unbelief (kufr) in Allah and the worship of idols, until they belied their messengers and rejected what their messengers had brought them from their Lord. فَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُمُ الْيَوْمَ (And he is their helper today) — that is to say: Satan is their helper today in the worldly life, and how evil a helper. وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (And for them is a painful torment) — in the Hereafter when they arrive before their Lord, and then the friendship of Satan will not avail them, nor did it ever avail them in the life of this world — rather, he harmed them in the worldly life, and in the Hereafter he is yet more harmful to them.
