Al-Hijr
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE
[15:17]
and We have made them secure against every satanic force accursed


* v.17 : The term shaytān (“satan”) – derived from the verb shatana (“he was [or “became”] remote”) – often denotes in the Qur’ān a force or influence remote from, and opposed to, all that is true and good (Tāj al-‘Arūs, Rāghib): thus, for instance, in 2:14 it is used to describe the evil impulses (shayātīn) within the hearts of “those who are bent on denying the truth.” In its widest, abstract sense it denotes every “satanic force,” i.e., every impulsion directed towards ends which are contrary to valid ethical postulates. In the present context, the phrase “every satanic force accursed (rajīm)” – like the phrase “every rebellious (mārid) satanic force” in a similar context in 37:7 – apparently refers to endeavours, strongly condemned in Islam, to divine the future by means of astrological speculations: hence the preceding reference to the skies and the stars. The statement that God has made the heavens “secure” against such satanic forces obviously implies that He has made it impossible for the latter to obtain, through astrology or what is popularly described as “occult sciences,” any real knowledge of “that which is beyond the reach of human perception” (al-ghayb).
* Lit., “excepting [or “except that”] anyone who seeks to hear by stealth...,” etc. The implication seems to be that any attempt at fathoming the mysteries of the unknowable by such illicit means (“by stealth”) is inevitably followed by “a flame clear to see,” i.e., by burning, self-evident frustration. (Cf. also 37:10.)