فتن
fatana
To beguile, mislead or draw someone away from the straight path, al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm.
What it means
Fatana means to put to trial, and by extension to lure a person off course. The Quran uses it of efforts to turn the Prophet from his message: “They were about to tempt you away from what We revealed to you” (17:73). Another verse warns him to “beware lest they tempt you away from part of what God has sent down to you” (5:49). In each case the verb describes an attempt to separate a person from what God has revealed.
The same root gives fitna, a trial or a cause of temptation, and maftūn, one who has been led astray. Faruqi’s gloss stresses the direction: the person is drawn away from al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, the path of guidance that Muslims ask for in every rakʿa of prayer. The verb can describe the work of a human tempter or of Satan. It is therefore a word of warning for every believer.
Often misunderstood as
Often rendered “to tempt” alone, which does not show that the temptation leads away from the straight path.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 42, listed as FATANA. The definition is restated here.