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Wednesday 18 July 2018

Sūrah Al Falak - The Daybreak: Summary of 113th Chapter of The Holy Quran


Sūrah Al Falak and Sūrah An Nas (the last Sūrah of the Holy Qur'an) have the same subject in common: The Evil. However the distinct difference being the form of evil from which refuge is being sought in both the sūrahs: Evil within in Sūrah An Nas while Sūrah Al Falak speaks of evil without. Read the English translation below and you would come to know of the type of evil referred to in this sūrah:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn,
from anything harmful in Creation,
from the evil of darkness as it spreads,
from the evil of knotted spells,
from the evil of the envier when he envies.
The word Falak  means “to split.” Here the word split refers to the break of dawn because it splits the night and darkness. The daybreak is a relief for the man for all evils, both from men and jinn, are spread in the cover of darkness, that is the time between the sunset and sunrise. It has been quoted in the hadith reference book of Sahih Bukhari that Prophet of Allah has encouraged to bring children inside when the sun begins to set. "When the night falls, keep your children indoors, for the devils are out and about at this time. When an hour of the night goes by, you can let them go."

In this surah while refuges is sought from Allah, who is the lord of the dawn and dusk, it is specified that refuge is being sought from the evil of what created. And then refuge of Allah is being sought from the evil that creeps out in the darkness of night, the evil of magic and the last of all the evil oozing out of someone who envies one's blessing.

And we all know that the three forms of evils talked about in this surah are the one that are very common in our daily lives, specially that of evil of "Naffaathaat (women) who blow in Uqad (knots)" - like the soothsayer techniques to partially tie a knot, utter a curse and spit into the knot and pull it tight. In the pre-Islamic period, soothsayers claimed the power to cause various illnesses. According to soothsayers the knot had to be found and untied before the curse could be lifted. Such women (and men too) were very common in the times when this surah was revealed and once Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, too was victim of such sorcerers and it is believed this surah was revealed then to be recited to ward of the ill effects so desired.

The last of the evils from which refuge is sought is that of envious men who envy others for the favours and blessings or better position or wealth. Remember the story of two sons of Prophet Adam when Allah accepted the devotion of Able and Cane became envious of his own brother and killed him. Thus one seeks refuge from the evil eye of an envious man for it can be harmful.

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is often quoted to have been saying to recite both Sūrah Al Falak and Sūrah An Nas at sunset and daybreak time to ward off evils of darkness and day.

Both these sūrahs are easy to remember and should be recited as often as one can to be in Allah's refuge from all evils that reside within and without. May Allah protect us all against all evils.

You many now listen to recitation of Sūrah Al Falak;

Calligraphy by Shahid Rana | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
An effort has been made to gather explanation of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic souses and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. However, those wanting detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to sites the references of which are given above.

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