1 Proclaim! I seek refuge in the Lord Who brings things out, 2 from the evil of what He has created, 3 from the evil of the darkness as it overspreads, 4 from the evil of the blowers on knots (who practise secret arts or witchcraft) 5 and from the evil of the envier when he envies.

Instead of using Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s Names, the refuge has been sought by using an attribute of Allaah as “the Lord Who brings things out”. The attribute indicates that He is the Lord of things from the evil of which we are seeking His refuge. This implies that as the Lord, He is the only real source of protection from the evil that may emanate from the things that He has created.

The Arabic word used in the first verse is “Falaq” which is usually translated as “Dawn”. The literal meaning of Falaq is “to bring out by splitting or breaking open” such as bringing the plant out by breaking the seed open and by breaking the earth open, or breaking the dawn by making the light come piercing through the darkness. The Qur-aan has used this word for both of these meanings:

“It is Allaah who splits and sprouts a grain-seed or a fruit-stone… He causes the dawn to break;…” (Al-An‘aam 6:95-96)

Thus there is no reason to restrict the translation to “dawn”. It is a general term that is applicable to all things that Allaah brings out by splitting or breaking open whatever is covering them or holding them back, including for example, water springing out of earth, or rain coming out of clouds or an offspring coming out of the womb or an egg, and so on and so forth. Hence, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala is the Lord that brings things out.

The refuge of the Lord Who creates or brings things out has been sought in general from the risks posed by, or evil of, everything He has created. The Creator, Lord or Master of the creation is the only One Who has power over His creations and can protect from their evil – none else can. The point to note is that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala did not create evil; He created everything for a useful role and for goodness in this world. Evil does not have its own distinct existence. In addition to the evil that people commit, the evil includes the risk of problems and dangers inherent in the imperfections of all the creations within this temporary universe. They have been designed with built-in imperfections in order to end at a predetermined time. It is only after this temporary test that a perfect and everlasting universe will be created. Until then, only He can shield His slaves from the problems that may arise out of the people and things that He has created.

After this general request, refuge from three specific risks is being requested in this Soorah and a fourth one in Soorah An-Naas.

1. The risks that are posed by the darkness of night [1] . Nights are dangerous. Dangerous animals emerge and become active at night, and so do criminals. Nights used to be even more dangerous, rather dreadful, at the time of the revelation of these verses because of the danger of night raids from enemies. The opponents of the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam also used to conspire to attack and kill him at night, so that the murderer could not be identified. Because of these dangers, the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam advised the Muslims, “When the sun sets, devils spread out in the land, so keep your children at home and hold your animals in their barns, until the night departs.” Although, not the subject matter being discussed here, an ancillary lesson we should keep in mind is that the youth who stay out at night fall prey to devils and commit immoral and inappropriate acts. Thus it is extremely important that Muslim youth should not stay out late at nights.

2. The evil of the blowers on knots. This refers to those who practise secret arts, magic or witchcraft type of activities. One of the techniques they use to cast a spell is to blow on a thread and tie a knot on every blow, usually seven times. Most of the witchcraft as we know it is usually invalid superstitious practice that is totally ineffective. But some magic taught by Shayŧaan or secret arts taught by angels in the past and handed down over the ages may have an effect on the faculty of mental perception of people. An example is the effect of Egyptian magicians on Moosa ‘alayhissalaam (Moses) and the audience at that time. But that effect can be nullified by Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s help or by recitation of His words or by Du‘aa to Him. One of the ways the opponents of the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam tried to harm him was through magic. One magician of Madeenah, Labeed ibn A‘ŝam, cast a spell on the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that was nullified within a day by Du‘aa and recitation of the Qur-aan. Those Muslims who establish their relationship with Allaah, continue to bless their hearts and minds with the remembrance of Allaah and continue to seek Allaah’s refuge through du‘aa will remain safe and protected from the evils of such things. Those who, instead of relying on Allaah, seek other means to protect themselves from the effect of such things lose the protection of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala.

3. The evil of the envier when he envies. The Arabic word Ĥasad means a feeling of jealousy against another person who has been endowed with some success or something good, and the jealous person wishes that the endowed person is deprived of that success or goodness. As long as the jealous person just burns in his own jealousy and does not take any step under the influence of jealousy, it is hurting only the jealous person, not the victim of his jealousy. But when the jealous person does something to hurt the victim in any way, Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s help can protect the victim from the evils of the jealous person’s behaviour. Muslims must in particular remember the jealousy of Shayŧaan against us and his vow to remove us from the straight path of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s Deen. We must continue to seek Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s refuge to protect ourselves from the machinations of the Shayŧaan. That is the only effective way of protection from his incitements.

Foot notes

[1] Based on a Ĥadeeth from ‘Aaisha radhiallaahu ‘anha, some people think the word “Ghaasiq” in this verse means “moon”, but the words of the verse are clearly describing the spreading of the darkness, not the moon. The scholars have interpreted the mention of the moon in the said Ĥadeeth to indicate the night being the time of appearance of moon. The moon’s presence is noticed only because of the darkness of the night. Even the light reflected by the moon is more beneficial to a perpetrator attacking his prey than to the victim.