Tafseer of The Believers · Al-Muminoon · 23:97
And say, "My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the incitements of the devils,
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.
As for His statement: وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ (And say: My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the promptings of the devils) — the Exalted addresses this statement to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And say, O Muḥammad: My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the throttling grip of the devils and their promptings (hamazāt). The word al-hamz means: to exert pressure, to squeeze. It is for this reason too that the hamzah in speech is so called. Al-hamazāt is the plural form of hamzah.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes also spoke.
*Mention of who said this:*
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed me; he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ — he said: The hamazāt of the devils is their throttling grip upon people; that is their hamz.
[Footnote: In the Gharīb al-Qurʾān of al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, under the entry hamz, it states: Al-hamz is like al-ʿaṣr (the pressing/squeezing) — this fits the explanation as the throttling grip of the devils, for throttling is indeed the squeezing together of the throat so that the breath is cut off.]
