except him who snatches a fragment al-khatfa is the verbal noun that is to say ‘that one time’; the exceptive clause refers to the subject of the verb yasma‘ūna in other words ‘the only devil that is able to listen is the one that hears a word from the angels and snatches it away quickly’ and who is then pursued by a piercing flame shihāb is a meteor that pierces him or burns him or robs him of his senses.