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119
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُم وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُم وَلَآمُرَنَّهُم فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذانَ الأَنعامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُم فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلقَ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيطانَ وَلِيًّا مِن دونِ اللَّهِ فَقَد خَسِرَ خُسرانًا مُبينًا

Muhammad Asad

and shall lead them astray, and fill them with vain desires; and I shall command them - and they will cut off the ears of cattle [in idolatrous sacrifice]; and I shall command them - and they will corrupt God's creation!"1 But all who take Satan rather than God for their master do indeed, most clearly, lose all:
  • Cf. 7:16-17. The pre-Islamic Arabs used to dedicate certain of their cattle to one or another of their idols by cutting off or slitting the ears of the animal, which was thereupon considered sacred (Tabari). In the above context, this reference is used metonymically to describe idolatrous practices, or inclinations, in general. The allusion to Satan's inducing man to "corrupt [lit., "change"] God's creation" has a meaning to which sufficient attention is but seldom paid: Since this creation, and the manner in which it manifests itself, is an expression of God's planning will, any attempt at changing its intrinsic nature amounts to corruption. - For the wider meaning of the term shaytan ("Satan" or "satanic force"), see the first half of the note on 15:17.