THE STORY OF SHAYTAN (Satan) Part 2.

"Do you not know, Muhammad, that lying is my doing, that I was the first to lie, and that whoever lies is my friend and whoever swears falsely in Allah's (SWT) name is my beloved? Do you not know, Muhammad, that in Allah's (SWT) name I swore to Adam and Eve (AS).

'For Allah's sake, surely I am one of your sincerest advisors.' The lying oath is the joy of my heart; slander and defamation are my fruits and my delight; and bearing false witness brings pleasure and satisfaction to my eye."

"He who swears divorce is on the brink of sin, even if he does so only once, or acts in good faith. The wife of him whose tongue has grown accustomed to divorce is forbidden to him; but they do not cease to beget children until the Resurrection Day, and all of those will be children of adultery and will enter the Fire for the sake of a word."

"Muhammad, in your community there are those who postpone the prayer an hour or so. Every time he wants to rise for prayer, I stand by him and whisper wicked suggestions to him and tell him, '

There is still time; you are busy,' until he puts off the prayer and performs it at other than its appointed time, for which it is flung back in his face. If he defeats me I send to him one of the devils of mankind to delay him beyond the time for prayer, and if he defeats me in that, I leave him alone until he is praying and then say to him, 'Look to the right and left.'

So he looks, and as he does so I stroke his face with my hand, kiss him between the eyes and tell him, 'Surely you have done what can never be forgiven.' And you yourself know, Muhammad, that Allah (SWT) flings back in his face the prayer of one who keeps looking around as he performs it."

"If he defeats me in the prayer and is praying alone, I tell him to hurry; he pecks at the prayer like a rooster pecks at seeds, and rushes through it. If he defeats me and is praying in a group, I hold him back with a bridle, raise his head before the Imam and lower it before the Imam.

And you yourself know, Muhammad, that the prayer of one who does that counts for nothing, and on the Resurrection Day Allah (SWT) will turn his head into that of an ass."

"And if he defeats me in that, I tell him to crack his knuckles during the prayer, so that he becomes one of my worshipers as he prays. And if he defeats me in that I blow into his nose until he yawns while he prays, and if he does not put his hand over his mouth the devil enters his stomach, making him increasingly greedy for and fond of things of the world, and attentive and submissive to me."

"And is there any felicity for your community while I order the poor to stop praying, telling him, 'Prayer is not your obligation, but rather the obligation of him to whom Allah (SWT) has shown favor,' and telling the sick, 'Stop praying; it is not your obligation, but rather the obligation of him whom Allah (SWT) has favored with good health, for Allah Almighty has said:

"There is no fault in the sick."3 When you recover you will pray as you should,' so that he dies as an apostate. And when he dies having abandoned prayer in his illness, he meets Allah Almighty and Allah (SWT) is displeased with him."

"If I have lied or digressed, Muhammad, ask Allah (SWT) to turn me into ashes. Can you rejoice in your community, Muhammad, when I have diverted a sixth of it from the path of Islam?"

"Cursed One," asked the Prophet (PBUH), who is your table companion?" "The usurer." "And who is your friend?" "The fornicator." "And your bedfellow?" "The drunkard." "

Who is your guest?" "The thief." "And who is your envoy?" "The sorcerer." "What is refreshing to your eye?" "He who swears divorce." "And who is your beloved?" "The one who abandons the Friday prayer."

"Cursed One," said the Apostle of Allah (PBUH), "What breaks your back?" "The whinnying of the horses in the cause of Allah (SWT)." "And what wastes away your body?" "The repentance of the contrite."

"And what inflames your liver?" "Frequent seeking of Allah's (SWT) forgiveness by night and day." "What embarrasses you?" "Giving alms in secret." "What blurs your vision?" "The dawn prayer." "What bridles your head?"

"Frequent prayer in a group." "And who, according to you, is the happiest of men?" "He who deliberately abandons prayer." "And which men, according to you, are the most wretched?" "The thrifty." "What distracts you from your work?"

"The councils of the learned." "And how do you eat?" "With the fingers of my left hand." "Where do you go to shelter your sons in times of fiery winds and sandstorms?" "Under the fingernails of men." Then the Prophet (PBUH) asked, "How many needs have you asked your Lord to grant you?" "Ten things." "And what are they, Cursed One?"

"I asked Him to let me share in the wealth and children of the sons of Adam (AS), so He made me their associate when He said: 'And share with them in their wealth and their children, and promise them. But Satan promises them naught, except delusion.

5 I feed on any ill-gotten fortune, and also on any source of sustenance associated with usury or other forbidden practices, on any wealth from which he does not seek protection from Satan the Cursed, and on anyone who does not seek protection during intercourse. When he enters his wife the devil enters with her, and the child is born attentive and submissive to me. And whoever rides the beast of burden in search of anything not permissive has me for a comrade, as in the Word of the Almighty: 'And rally against them thy horsemen and thy foot.'"6