(وَكَذَٰلِكَ) (And thus): It refers to all of the above.

(جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍّ) (We have made for every prophet): Why did Allah (swt) make an enemy for every prophet? Because there is a wisdom behind evil. If any matter is to appear and be known, we should look at its opposite. As was said: “By their opposites are things made manifest”. When people see that evil has prevailed, they long for goodness. This is why Allah (swt) made for every prophet an enemy.

(عَدُوًّا) (an enemy)  :Allah (swt) made for every Prophet an enemy. His Majesty says:

(وَمَا يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ)

(And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him) (Al-Muddaththir: 31)

For example: People think that pain is bad, but it is one of the soldiers of well-being. When a patient feels pain in a part of his body, it is as if this pain stimulates the rest of the body to take action, as in the white blood cells and others. The ill person would go to the doctor or the hospital as a result of this pain. The most malignant diseases that destroy the body are the ones without pain. So, Allah (swt) makes an enemy for every prophet, this is Divine Will. By Allah’s (swt) Will, evil has a wisdom behind it that it must fulfil. Life is full of antonyms such as day and night. For this reason, we tell the people of faith not to be sad. If they think that they will live among rivers, shadows and fortunes, then this is not the path of the Prophets (PBUT), rather they Their path is to confront falsehood with truth; evil with goodness.

Enmity between truth and falsehood, good and evil, is a Sunnah of Allah (swt). Had there not been evil, no one would have demanded goodness. People demand rightness when falsehood prevails. Therefore, the existence of an enemy is good because it motivates people to do good. Imam Shafi’i says:

My enemies do me favor and gratitude

O’ most Merciful, do not keep the enemies away from me

They were looking for my slips, so I avoided it,

They turned to foes against me, but victory was mine over them.

The Arabic word for ‘enemy’ could be used for singular, pair, and plural. The Allah (swt) says:

(فَإِنَّهُمْ عَدُوٌّ لِّي إِلَّا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ)

(Indeed, they are enemies to me, except the Lord of the worlds) (Ash-Shu’araa:77)

Meaning that all idols and statues are an enemy. He (swt) used the same word in:

 قَالَ اهْبِطُوا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ مُسْتَقَرٌّ وَمَتَاعٌ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

([Allah] said, “Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time.”) (Al-A’raaf)

However, in some other verses, Allah (swt) uses this word in plural form:

 وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا

(And remember the favor of Allah upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers) (Aal-i-Imraan: 103)

When is the word ‘enemies’ used, and when is ‘enemy’ used? When there are multiple reasons for enmity, (for your position, your work, your success), then it is used in Arabic in its plural form. if all enemies are united by the same reason, then the word is used in singular form. Because all statues are one thing and the same enmity. Allah (swt) uses it in singular form in the following verse:

( فَإِنَّهُمْ عَدُوٌّ لِّي إِلَّا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ )

(Indeed, they are enemy to me, except the Lord of the worlds) (Ash-Shu’araa: 77)

(شَيَاطِينَ الْإِنسِ وَالْجِنِّ) (devils from mankind and jinn): The Arabic tem word of (devil) comes from (Shatun), meaning: far away. He is far from good and immersed in evil. Idiomatically, this name is used for the evil and corrupt of both jinn and mankind. Evil one, murderer, criminal, thief, slanderer, liar, and impostor. These are all attributes and names of demons of mankind and of the jinn. The devils are the disbeliever of jinn. Allah (swt) says:

 قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ (1) مَلِكِ النَّاسِ (2) إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ (3) مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ (4) الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ (5) مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ (6

(1) Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, (2) The Sovereign of mankind. (3) The God of mankind, (4) From the evil of the retreating whisperer – (5) Who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind – (6) From among the jinn and mankind.) (An-Naas)

(يُوحِي بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُورًا) (inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion): Inspiration: Is to pass information secretly. So, the devils from mankind and jinn, these spiteful and jealous enemies, inspire each other in secret. Conspiracies are always woven in dark rooms, that is why the Allah (swt) says: (inspiring to one another decorative speech in delusion).

To decorate: is to embellish something to make it more appealing to the eye, something that is outwardly decorated but inwardly rotten, you decorate it to hide what is underneath. So, decorative speech means that they hide enmity inside but they embellish their speech to appear as friends or loving people. So, decorating in this sense is to present a false appearance as if real. As for the Arabic word of (whispering), it is the sound of jewelry. Who loves the sound of jewelry? They are those who want money and desire it. Allah (swt) called the act of devil whispering as it seduces people by decorating falsehood and changing the reality of truth.

(غرورا) (delusion): When a person gets deluded, he believes that this would help and benefit him. He sees the decoration but does not see the truth; hence he is deluded by this matter.

(وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ مَا فَعَلُوهُ) (But if your Lord had willed, they would not have done it): Everything in its existence is according to Allah’s Omnipotence and His Will, the Most Merciful. If He (swt) did not will any of that to exist, it would not be.

(فذرهم) (so leave them): Let them be, O Mohammad (saws).

(و ما يفترون) (and that which they invent): They are making up lies, so leave them because they will not change the reality of anything, and the truth will always prevail. Just as Allah (swt) says:

 وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا

(And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.”) (Al-Israa:81)

As if Allah (swt) is saying to His Prophet (saws): ‘So, leave them. They are enemies who lie and slander, but Allah (swt) will help, support, and cherish you’.