Surah Ya-Sin 36:60
سُورَةُ يسٓ · Meccan · Verse 60 of 83
۞ أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَٰبَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ أَن لَّا تَعْبُدُوا۟ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۭ مُّبِينٌۭ
Translation
Children of Adam, did I not command you not to serve Satan, for he was your sworn enemy,
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan, indeed, he is to you a clear enemy?' Ibn Ashur and al-Biqa'i note the reckoning opens by recalling a forgotten covenant, and that 'worshipping' Satan here means obeying him, every act of following his suggestion is a small submission to him. Ask yourself: I would never say I 'worship' the devil, but this verse defines it as obedience, not ritual. Each time I follow the whisper toward the thing I know is wrong, I am, in the Qur'an's terms, obeying a declared enemy. Reframed like that: whose promptings am I actually following through my day, and did I forget there was ever a pact not to?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, al-Saadi.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Ya-Sin 36:60 is discussed in 12 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Ya-Sin 36:60 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.