Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nisa Verse 120

Mufti Taqi Usmani

He (the Satan) makes promises to them, and he tempts them with hopes. The Satan does not make a promise to them but to deceive.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Satan only makes them ˹false˺ promises and deludes them with ˹empty˺ hopes. Truly Satan promises them nothing but delusion.

Ruwwad Translation Center

[Satan] makes promises to them and arouses in them false hopes; but Satan makes no promises to them except delusion.

A. J. Arberry

He promises them and fills them with fancies, but there is nothing Satan promises them except delusion.

Abdul Haleem

he makes them promises and raises false hopes, but Satan’s promises are nothing but delusion.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

The Satan maketh them promises and filleth them with vain desires. and Satan promiseth them not but delusion.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Satan makes them promises, and creates in them false desires; but satan's promises are nothing but deception.

Abul Ala Maududi

Satan makes promises to them and fills them with vain hopes, but whatever he promises them is merely delusion.

Ahmed Ali

Whatever the promises he makes, whatever the desires he enkindles, and whatever the hopes Satan rouses in them, are no more than delusion.

Ahmed Raza Khan

The devil promises them and arouses desires in them; and the devil does not give them promises except of deceit.

Ali Quli Qarai

He makes them promises and gives them [false] hopes, yet Satan does not promise them anything but delusion.

Ali Ünal

(In reality, however, Satan has no authority over people against God.) He makes promises to them and fills them with vain desires (superstitious fancies and false conceptions), and what he promises them is nothing but delusion.

Amatul Rahman Omar

He (- satan) holds out promises to them and arouses false hopes in them. But satan promises nothing but vain things to them.

English Literal

He promises them and he makes them wish/desire, and the devil does not promise them except deceit/temptation.

Faridul Haque

The devil promises them and arouses desires in them; and the devil does not give them promises except of deceit.

Hamid S. Aziz

But those who believe, and do what is right, We will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever - It is Allah´s promise in truth; and whose word is truer than Allah´s?-

Hilali & Khan

He [Shaitan (Satan)] makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires; and Shaitan's (Satan) promises are nothing but deceptions.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And certainly I will lead them astray and excite in them vain desires and bid them so that they will slit the ears of the cattle, and bid them so that they will alter Allah’s creation. And whoever takes the devil for a friend, forsaking Allah, he indeed suffers a manifest loss.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

He gives them promises and excites vain desires in them; and the Shaitan does not promise them but to deceive.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

He promiseth them and stirreth up desires in them, and Satan promiseth them only to beguile.

Muhammad Sarwar

Satan gives them false promises and tempts them to develop longings which can never be realized.

Qaribullah & Darwish

he promises them and fills them with fancies, but what satan promises them is only a delusion.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

He [Shaytan] makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires; and Shaytan's promises are nothing but deceptions.

Wahiduddin Khan

he holds out promises to them, and fills them with vain desires: but Satan's promises are nothing but delusion.

Talal Itani

He promises them, and he raises their expectations, but Satan promises them nothing but delusions.

Tafsir jalalayn

He promises them, long life, and fills them with desires, of attaining their hopes in this world, and that there will be neither resurrection nor requital; but what Satan promises them, therewith, is only delusion, falsehood.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

He (Shaytan) makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires;

explains the true reality. Surely, Shaytan deceitfully promises his supporters and tempts them into believing that they are winners in this and the Hereafter.

This is why Allah said,
وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ إِلاَّ غُرُورًا
(and Shaytan's promises are nothing but deceptions).

Allah states that on the Day of Return,

وَقَالَ الشَّيْطَانُ لَمَّا قُضِيَ الَامْرُ إِنَّ اللّهَ وَعَدَكُمْ وَعْدَ الْحَقِّ وَوَعَدتُّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُكُمْ وَمَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَانٍ

And Shaytan will say when the matter has been decided;"Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you, until,
إِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
(Verily, there is a painful torment for the wrongdoers). (14;22)

Allah's statement