The Angels
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.[35:8]
Is he, then, to whom the evil of his conduct is made alluring, so that he looks upon it as good, (equal to one who is rightly guided)? For God leaves to stray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills. So let not thy soul go out in (vainly) sighing after them: for God knows well all that they do!

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* v.8 : Cf. n. 3877 above. When a stage is reached at which a man accepts Evil as his Good, his case is hopeless. Can such a man profit by preaching or guidance? He has himself deliberately rejected all guidance. Such a man is best left to stray. Perhaps, even in the paths in which he is straying, some sudden flash of light may come to him! ’That may be as Allah wills in His holy and wise Purpose and Plan. But the prophet of Allah is not to worry or feel disheartened by such men’s attitude. He must go on tilling the soil that is open to him. For Allah’s Plan may work in all sorts of unexpected ways, as in the allegory in the next verse.