Verses 1–5
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
This sūrah was revealed in Medina and consists of 6 verses. It commands the Prophet to seek refuge in God from all harms, some of which are specified. It can be deduced from some narrations about the context of its revelation that the chapter was revealed in Medina.
Commentary
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ ١
(113:1) Say: I seek refuge (aʿūdhu, from ʿawdh) with the Lord of the daybreak (falaq)
ʿAwdh means “guarding oneself and avoiding a harm by resorting to someone who can repel it.” Falq means “splitting, dividing.” Falaq is commonly used to mean “dawn,” because dawn cleaves apart the darkness [as in the expression “the crack of dawn”]. Therefore, the meaning is: “I seek refuge with the lord of the dawn Who splits the darkness asunder.” This expression is appropriate for seeking refuge from types of harm which cover what is good and conceal it from others.
Two other suggested interpretations for falaq are:
- Anything that is created and brought into existence. This is based on a metaphorical image for the act of creation, where the void of non-existence is cleft apart and an object is brought into the world of existence from it. Hence, al-falaq would be equivalent to al-makhlūq (the created, the creation).
- A well in hell, as mentioned in some narrations.
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ٢
(113:2) from the harm of what He has created,
That is, from the harm of anything which can be harmful. It is about any potential harm from humans, jinn, animals and other created beings. In other words, even though what He has created is stated in an unqualified form, it does not imply that everything which God has created is harmful.
وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ٣
(113:3) and from the harm of the darkness (ghāsiq) when it falls (waqaba, from wuqūb):
Siḥāḥ al-lughah says:
Ghasaq is “the first darkness of night.” The verb ghasaqa yaghasiqu is used when the night falls and it becomes dark. Ghāsiq means “the night, after the disappearance of the twilight.”
Wuqūb means “entering.” The meaning is: “and from the harm of night when it arrives with its darkness.” The verse ascribes harm to the night because: (1) the darkness of the night aids the malevolent in their plots by providing them cover; (2) one is more vulnerable to the assault of evil at night than in the day. That is why more crimes are committed during the night than the day. Some have interpreted ghāsiq as anyone or anything harmful which may attack a person in any way or time whatsoever.
Stating the harm of the darkness after the harm of what He has created () is a case of stating the specific after the general, which shows emphasis and importance. This sūrah emphasizes three specific types of harm: the harm of the nightfall [], the harm of the magicians’ tricks [], and the harm of the enviers’ jealousy []. A common denominator of all of them is that people are often unaware and heedless of their occurrence.
وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ ٤
(113:4) and from the harm of the witches who blow on knots (al-nafāthāti fi al-ʿuqad),
This verse is about sorceresses who bind their spells on the bewitched through tying knots and blowing on them. Women are specifically mentioned because they used to practice sorcery more than men. The verse confirms that sorcery has some impact. The same can be deduced from the story of Hārūt and Mārūt: But they would learn from those two that with which they would cause a split between man and his wife – though they could not harm anyone with it except with Allah’s leave (), as well as the story of Pharaoh’s magicians.
Another suggested interpretation is women who persuade and pressure their husbands to influence their opinion and incline them toward their own desire. Accordingly, “knot” (ʿaqd) would mean “opinion, view”; and “blowing on a knot” would be a metaphor for weakening the other side’s opinion. However, this interpretation is far from what springs to the mind from the text.
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ٥
(113:5) and from the harm of the envier when he envies.
The last part of the verse clarifies that it is about acting upon one’s envy and carrying it out in practice [not merely harboring envy and grudge in one’s heart]. Some say that the verse also includes the evil eye, because the evil eye is a form of jealousy that materializes in the soul when a person sees something that they find impressive and desirable.
Examining Narrations
- A Jewish man cast a spell on the Prophet, which made him ill. Then Gabriel came to him and revealed Chapters 113 and 114 (called al-miʿawwidhatān: the two means for seeking refuge). He said: “A Jewish man has cast a spell on you, and the [knot used for the] spell is in such-and-such a well.”
The Prophet sent ʿAlī to bring the knot from the well. He ordered ʿAlī to untie the knots while reciting a verse [for each knot that he untied]. So ʿAlī began untying while reciting [these two chapters], until the Prophet could get up, as if freed from a bond.
Author’s comment: The same idea is found in many Sunni narrations, with slight differences. Several accounts say that the Prophet also sent Zubayr and ʿAmmār along with ʿAlī. There are also further Shia narrations on this.
Some have objected to the content of these narrations by arguing that the Prophet was protected from magic, as God says: And the wrongdoers said, “You are just following a bewitched man.” Look what analogies they have drawn for you; thus they have gone astray, and cannot find the way ().
Response: What is meant by bewitched () is being possessed by demons, which means a kind of magic that renders one insane. However, there is no evidence that the Prophet was also immune from being harmed by magic in terms of physical health and so on.
- The Prophet often placed al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn under the protective charm of these two sūrahs.
- The Messenger of God said: Some verses have been revealed to me, the like of which have never been revealed: they are al-miʿawwidhatān (Chapters 113 and 114).
Author’s comment: Perhaps, what is meant by not having any like is that these two sūrahs are the only chapters which are exclusively for seeking protection; there is no other sūrah with this sole function.
- Ibn Masʿūd used to scratch out these two sūrahs [113 and 114] from the manuscript of the Qur’an, saying: “Do not mix the Qur’an with things that are not part of it. These two are not part of the Book of God. Rather, they were given to the Prophet to seek refuge through them.” Ibn Masʿūd did not used to recite them [in the prayer].
Author’s comment: After reporting the above, al-Suyūṭī quotes al-Bazzār:
None of the Companions agreed with Ibn Masʿūd. It has been established that the Prophet read these two sūrahs in his prayers, and we have verified that indeed they are part of the Qur’anic manuscript.
- Once Imam al-Bāqir was told: “Ibn Masʿūd used to erase these two sūrahs from Qur’anic manuscripts.” The Imam replied: “My father used to say: Ibn Masʿūd did that in accordance with his own opinion. Otherwise, they are part of the Qur’an.”
Author’s comment: There are many narrations, through both Sunni and Shia chains of transmission, which express the same idea. Moreover, there is tawātur (consensus, mass-transmission that leaves no room for doubt) among all Muslims, agreeing that these two chapters are part of the Qur’an. Some critiques of the miracle of Qur’an argue that if the Qur’an were indeed a miracle of eloquence, then someone like Ibn Masʿūd would not have disagreed over the inclusion of these two sūrahs in the Qur’an. To this objection, several answers have been given, including: (1) We have absolute tawātur here, which is more than sufficient [to override and discard Ibn Masʿūd’s personal opinion]. (2) There are no narrations from Ibn Masʿūd claiming that these two sūrahs were not sent to the prophet, or that they are not miracle of eloquence. He only argued that they are not part of the Qur’an—a claim which can be safely set aside by tawātur.
- The Prophet said: Falaq is a covered well in hell.
- The Prophet said: Falaq is a gate of hell. When it is opened, it stokes hell.
- The Prophet said: Falaq is a well in hell. When the hellfire flames up, it does so from Falaq.
Author’s comment: There are further narrations along the same lines.
- Al-Suddī said: Falaq is a well in hell. The inmates of hell seek refuge from its intense heat.
- The Messenger of God said: Poverty verges on disbelief, and envy almost overpowers destiny (qadar).
- The Prophet said: Envy nearly outstrips destiny.
- The Messenger of God said: Indeed envy consumes good deeds the way fire consumes firewood.
Falaq is a ṣifah mushabbahah which implies the meaning of mafʿūl (passive participial noun, accusative case), just as qaṣaṣ means maqṣūṣ (story, that which is told). (Auth.)
In this case, falaq, it is a noun which denotes the object of God’s act of splitting. See the footnote under verse , above. (Ed.) ↩︎
In other words, when he envies is not a repetition of the envier, but a qualification of it. The envier is one who is given to comparing themselves with others. Such a person becomes harmful only when he envies; that is, when they give outward expression to jealousy and contempt in their heart. (Ed.) ↩︎
The correct recording of this word is miʿawwidhatān or muʿawwidhatayn—as a subject, meaning two things which give refuge. The common form of miʿawwadhatān or muʿawwadhatayn—as an object—is a mistake. (Ed.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd, on the authority of Zayd b. Aslam. A similar account is narrated from Imam al-Ṣādiq in Ṭibb al-aʾimmah, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sinān, on the authority of al-Mufaḍḍal. ↩︎
This is what the polytheists claimed, and what the verses refute. (Ed.) ↩︎
This is a special ritual called taʿwīḍ, where the special spiritual power of a formula is invoked by reciting it over a person or writing and attaching it to them. (Ed.) ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān, on the authority of ʿUqbat b. ʿĀmir. The book adds: “Muslim has reported this in his Ṣaḥīḥ.” Al-Durr al-manthūr has quoted this from al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasaʾī and also others. It has also quoted a similar idea from al-Ṭabarānī’s al-Awsaṭ, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Aḥmad, al-Bazzār, al-Ṭabarānī and Ibn Mardawayh, via an authenticated chains of narration, on the authority of from Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn Masʿūd. ↩︎
Apparently the second sentence is Imam al-Bāqir’s own words. (Ed.) ↩︎
Tafsīr al-Qummī, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Ḥaḍramī. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Jarīr, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. There are several narrations that convey the same idea. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of ʿUqbat b. ʿĀmir. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of ʿAmr b. ʿAbasah [or ʿAbsah]. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. The book adds: “Abū Ḥamzah al-Thumālī and ʿAlī b. Ibrahīm [al-Qummī] in their books of tafsīr.” ↩︎
Tafsīr al-Qummī, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Nawfalī, on the authority of al-Sakunī, from Imam al-Ṣādiq. This is also narrated, verbatim, from the Prophet, on the authority of Anas. ↩︎
Al-ʿUyūn, via its chain of narration, on the authority of al-Malalṭī, from Imam Riḍā, from his father, from his forefathers. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Abī Shaybah, on the authority of Anas. ↩︎