8

They, namely, the devils (lā yasma'ūna, this is [the beginning of] a new sentence) cannot listen in - this 'listening' of theirs represents that faculty with which they memorise [what they hear] - on the High Council, the angels in the heavens (the [normally transitive verb] al-samā' is complemented with the preposition ilā, 'to' [here 'in on'] because it includes the additional sense of 'paying attention' [while listening]; a variant reading has yassamma'una, which is actually yatasamma'ūna, the tā' have been assimilated with the sīn), for they, the devils, are pelted, with flames, from every side, from the remotest regions of the heavens,