Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:83
Do you not see that We have sent the devils upon the disbelievers, inciting them to [evil] with [constant] incitement?
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 be His remembrance, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "Do you not see, O Muḥammad, that We have sent the satans upon those who disbelieve (kāfirīn) in Allah, تَؤُزُّهُمْ ('they incite them')" — that is to say: they stir them up through seduction (ighwāʾ) and misguidance (iḍlāl), so that they spur them on to disobedience of Allah and urge them toward it until they commit it — أَزًّا ('a vehement inciting') — that is to say: they drive and entice them.
To what we have said about this the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to us — he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us — he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: أَزًّا — he said: "They egg them on (tughriyhim ighrāʾan)."
Al-Qāsim related to us — he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us — he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "They incite those who disbelieve (kāfirīn) to ascribing partners to Allah (shirk): 'Go on, go on with this affair, until they are cast into the Fire; go on in the false belief, go on.'"
Abū Kurayb related to us — he said: Abū Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning his word: تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he said: "They egg them on (tughriyhim ighrāʾan)."
Bishr related to us — he said: Yazīd related to us — he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he said: "They drive them on (tuzʿijuhum izʿājan) to disobedience of Allah."
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us — he said: Ibn ʿUthma related to us — he said: Saʿīd ibn Bashīr related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word of Allah: تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he said: "They drive them on to disobedience of Allah."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us — he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us — he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he said: "They drive them on to disobedience of Allah."
Yūnus related to me — he said: Ibn Wahb informed us — he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word: أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا الشَّيَاطِينَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he recited: وَمَنْ يَعْشُ عَنْ ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ ("And whoever is blind to the remembrance of the All-Merciful, for him We appoint a satan who becomes his companion"). He said: تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزًّا — he said: "They drive them on to disobedience of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, and urge them toward it just as a man urges another toward something." One says: "I incited so-and-so to such-and-such (azaztu fulānan bi-kadhā)," when one has urged him toward it — the person azza yaʾuzzu azzan wa-azīzan. And one says: "I heard the bubbling of the (boiling) cauldron (azīz al-qidr)" — that is to say: the sound of its boiling over the fire. To this also points the report of Muṭarrif via his father, that he came upon the Prophet ﷺ while he was performing the prayer, and his breast had a bubbling like the bubbling of a cooking pot (al-mirjal).
