What does the phrase "who whispers into the hearts of Mankind among Jinn and among men" mentioned in the chapter of an-Nas mean?

What does the phrase "who whispers into the hearts of Mankind among Jinn and among men" mentioned in the chapter of an-Nas mean?

Dear Brother / Sister,

In the chapter, three verses explain one another. The following is stated in the first one of those three verses: “(I seek refuge with the Lord) from the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (after his whisper).” However, what that whisperer of evil does is mentioned in the next verse: “(The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind”. What he does is mentioned but the question about his nationality is not answered. The answer is given in the last verse: “(who whispers into the hearts of Mankind) among Jinn and among men.” So, there is no repetition in the verses.

The translation of the chapter of an-Nas:

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

1. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord and Cherisher of Mankind,

 2. The King (or Ruler) of Mankind,

 3. The god (or judge) of Mankind,-

 4. From the mischief of the Whisperer (of Evil), who withdraws (after his whisper),-

 5. (The same) who whispers into the hearts of Mankind,-

 6. Among Jinn and among men.

Although Allah is the Lord of all creatures, the word "nas (people / humans)" is mentioned in the first three verses; this emphasizes that people (humans) are the best and most honorable creatures. Besides, there were sultans and kings who ruled people and the nations that regarded them as deities and worshipped in the world in the past; they are also seen in the world today with different versions. Therefore, it is emphasized that the Lord, king and deity of people is only Allah and that it is necessary to take refuge only in Him, to worship Him and to accept His domination.

The word "waswas" translated as "evil / Satan" is derived from the word "waswasa"; it expresses extremism and it means "causing a lot of delusions".

Waswasa means "doubt, hesitation, apprehension, secret word, thought that comes to mind"; terminologically, it means "thought, doubt and apprehension whose origin is not certain and that come to mind involuntarily and that lead a person to a bad or useless thought and deed." To suggest such a thought to a person means "to cause delusions". In general, waswasa is felt as an inner stimulus that leads man to bad, irreligious and unethical deeds. The origin of waswasa in this sense is Satan. As a matter of fact, it is stated in many verses that Satan causes delusions in man (for instance, see al-A'raf, 7/20; Taha, 20/120). Satan, which is the symbol of bad deeds has a real entity but it is said that he affects man spiritually. (see Hayati Hökelekli, "Vesvese", İFAV Ans., IV, 458)  Another origin of waswasa is man’s soul. Verse 16 of the chapter of Qaf expresses this.

The word "waswas" means both the invisible Satan that causes delusions in man and human devils that sets traps in order to make man deviate and causes him to commit bad deeds. The word "khannas" translated as "sly" is an adjective meaning "acting secretly and withdrawing".

In this chapter, man is ordered to take refuge in Allah from a big evil that is similar to the evils mentioned in the previous chapter called al-Falaq. However, this evil comes to man in a way that he does not know, that is, through secret powers and sensual desires; therefore, man sometimes acts heedlessly and does not take measures against it; he does a bad deed but he thinks he does a good deed. As it is stated in the verse, this evil is the evil of devils who want to eliminate man’s spiritual being and eternal bliss, and who want to make man fail by poisoning his spirit. In our opinion, the order to take refuge in Allah from this evil in the verse also orders us to be alert in the face of desires, feelings and thoughts that come from an uncertain source or from inside us, and to evaluate them based on the mind, conscience and religious values.   

As it is also understood from the last verse, there are two kinds of devils that try to deceive people and try to make man deviate them from the right path: The first one is devils of jinn, who try to mislead people by causing delusions in them. Everybody has a devil that tries to lead him to bad deeds and to show bad deeds as good deeds. As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) states that everybody has a jinn (devil). (Darimi, "Riqaq", 25; Musnad, 1,385) The following is stated in another hadith: "Satan travels in the blood vessels of man." (see Bukhari, "Ahkam", 21) 

The other kind of devil that makes man deviate man from the right path is human devils. They are the people who lost the criteria of reality and value, who are dragged by their sensual desires and who are enslaved by devils in this aspect. They usually approach man by showing themselves as good people and lead man to the deeds that he will regret.  

As a matter of fact, the following verse tells us that we should be careful about human devils and devils of jinn: “Likewise did We make for every Messenger an enemy,- evil ones among men and jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception…" (al-An'am, 6/112). That is, they suggest things with such embellished and nice words as if revealing with quick signs that those who look at the embellishments outside are deceived by them and fascinated by their evil.

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