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qāla rabbi bi-mā ʾaghwaytanī la-ʾuzayyinanna lahum fī l-ʾarḍi wa-la-ʾughwiyannahum ʾajmaʿīna
He said, ‘My Lord! As You have consigned me to perversity, I will surely glamorize [evil] for them on the earth, and I will surely pervert them, all
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Hijr – Verses 39 - 40
39. “(’Iblis) said: ‘O’ Lord! because You have left me to stray, certainly I will adorn (evil) to them on the earth, and certainly I will cause them all to go astray’.”
40. “Except Your chosen servants among them.”
Here we find ’Iblis revealed and exposed his true hidden intention, though nothing was hidden from Him, when ’Iblis answered Allah implying that He refused him and it was this ‘man’ who paved the ground for his misfortunes, ’Iblis should be engaged from then on in attracting them to the material blessings of this world by decorating and vanishing them, thus seeking to make them engaged in them. Therefore, ultimately, he would cause them all to be misled.
The verse says:
“(’Iblis) said: ‘O’ Lord! because You have left me to stray, certainly I will adorn (evil) to them on the earth, and certainly I will cause them all to go astray’.”
Nevertheless, he knew well that his mischief would never leave any impact on the devotee servants of Allah. Therefore, he soon made an exception to his saying, and said:
“Except Your chosen servants among them.”
These are those who have attained the highest levels of Faith and practice which have been brought about after going through a thorough educational curriculum and struggle against their ‘egotistic selves’. There are two points raised in here which are worth mentioning: Allah never leads anyone astray. However, if someone seeks willingly to accept the deviant path, Allah may leave him alone. This abandoning is the utmost case of the Divine punishment and outrage. As ’Iblis also willingly selected the path of arrogance and obstinacy, Allah left him to his own means.
Then the objective in saying /’aqwaytani/ (you have left me to stray) is meant in the same sense. That is, now that You no longer locate me within the reach of Your blessings and You left me alone to my own devices for the sake of my obstinate behavior, I will then do this and that. ’Iblis knows that a group of people are among the Divine selected ones. (That is, he has also accepted the legitimacy of ‘Prophethood’ and ‘Imamate’ as one can conclude from the clause:
“O’ Lord! because You have left me to stray”
that he has also accepted Allah. And as one also concludes from his prayer to be given a second chance “…till the day when they are raised”, he has also accepted the principle of Resurrection. Therefore, ’Iblis was right in his ideological principles. However, his main fault was his arrogance and his not having a spirit of submission and servitude. Thus, it is not enough to embrace merely the Faith and to have knowledge of something; but also practice, submission to the Will of Allah, and servitude are necessary.