بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمـٰنِ الرَّحيمِ قُل أَعوذُ بِرَبِّ النّاسِ

SAY: I seek refuge with the Sustainer of men,

مَلِكِ النّاسِ

the Sovereign of men,

إِلـٰهِ النّاسِ

the God of men,

مِن شَرِّ الوَسواسِ الخَنّاسِ

from the evil of the whispering, elusive tempter

الَّذي يُوَسوِسُ في صُدورِ النّاسِ

who whispers in the hearts of men¹

1. 1.  I.e., "Satan" in the widest meaning of this designation, as pointed out by Razi (quoted in surah 14, note 31).

مِنَ الجِنَّةِ وَالنّاسِ

from all [temptation to evil by] invisible forces as well as men,²

1. 2.  The above is perhaps the oldest Qur'anic mention of the term and concept of al-jinnah (synonymous with al-jinn), which has been tentatively explained in Appendix III. In the above context, the term probably denotes the intangible, mysterious forces of nature to which man's psyche is exposed, and which sometimes make it difficult for us to discern between right and wrong, However, in the light of this last verse of the last surah of the Qur'an it is also possible to conclude that the "invisible forces" from which we are told to seek refuge with God are the temptations to evil emanating from the blindness of our own hearts, from our gross appetites, and from the erroneous notions and false values that may have been handed down to us by our predecessors.