M6:3608 — حق پی شیطان بدین سان زد مثل / که ترا در رزم آرد با حیل

Translation: God thus set a parable concerning Satan, / That he might draw you into battle with deceits. Meaning: This verse explains that God, by presenting an example of Satan, reveals how Satan cunningly draws humanity into a deceptive inner struggle through tricks and false promises.

God Almighty, in this verse and indeed throughout the Holy Quran, presents a parable to illuminate the deceptive and treacherous nature of Satan. This understanding is crucial for any seeker on the path. The Masnavi here explicitly references the Quranic verse, 'Like Satan, when he says to man, ‘Disbelieve,’ but when he disbelieves, he says, ‘Indeed, I am disassociated from you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds' (Al-Hashr, 59:16).

Satan, at the outset, lures humanity toward disbelief and sin with flattery and false promises of aid and companionship: 'That I may assist you, I am with you; / In dangers, I will run ahead for you.' He portrays himself as a steadfast supporter, even emboldening man, calling him a 'Rustam' or a 'lion' to rush fearlessly into the path Satan has laid out. These temptations are akin to inflating one's sleeve with wind, pushing man forward to fall into the abyss of sin and delusion. In this state, Satan acts as 'a sack of deceit, trickery, and cunning,' employing all his intelligence and guile to mislead and direct the unsuspecting human toward his desired outcome.

However, once man, trusting Satan's word, steps into the valley of disbelief and sin and falls into the 'pit' of deception, the truth is revealed. Satan suddenly 'burst into peals of laughter' and turns away from man. He denies all his promises, declaring outright: 'Go, go, I am disgusted with you.' It is striking that Satan even shamelessly portrays himself as more pious than the deluded human, saying: 'Did you not fear the justice of the Creator? / Indeed, I fear Him; you leave me alone!' That is to say, you did not fear the consequences of your actions, but I fear God and disavow you! This is the ultimate display of impudence and hypocrisy from a deceiver.

This parable is not solely about Satan; earlier, Rumi describes the world and its superficial supports in a similar vein. At the time of death, all worldly friends and supporters withdraw, leaving man alone: 'The world and its inhabitants, all those you leaned upon, all will say, ‘We were with you until here, but now you are alone; go now.’ Just as Satan abandons man, so too does this world, in the final moment, leave man desolate and without refuge. This is a profound lesson about the unreliability of any support other than God, whether in the spiritual or material realm. Only those who have previously prepared the 'spring of the Beloved's face' within their souls will experience it in those moments, not those who have relied on Satan's guile or the world's deception.

Key takeaways

• God presents Satan's parable to reveal his deceptive nature.
• Satan lures humans into sin with false promises of companionship and aid.
• Once man is drawn into sin, Satan shamelessly abandons and disavows him.
• Satan's hypocrisy is evident in his feigned piety and fear of God, which is another layer of deception.
• The story of Satan mirrors the unreliability of all supports other than God, whether worldly or diabolical.