Al-Falaq

The Daybreak[1] (Arabic: اَلْفَلَق‎, al-falaq) is the 113th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an. It is a brief five verse surah, asking God for protection from the evil:

۝ [2] Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak[3][o 1]
۝ From the evil of that which He created[p 1]
۝ And from the evil of darkness when it settles[q 1]
۝ And from the evil of the blowers in knots[5][r 1]
۝ And from the evil of an envier when he envies[3][9]
Sura 113 of the Quran
ٱلفَلَق
Al-Falaq
The Daybreak
ClassificationMeccan
PositionJuzʼ 30
No. of verses5
No. of words23
No. of letters71
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Context

This surah and the 114th (and last) surah in the Qur'an, an-Nās, are collectively referred to as al-Mu'awwidhatayn "the Refuges", as both begin with "I seek refuge", an-Nās tells to seek God for refuge from the evil from within, while al-Falaq tells to seek God for refuge from the evil from outside, so reading both of them would protect a person from his own mischief and the mischief of others.

Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which means it is believed to have been revealed in Mecca, instead of later in Medina.

The word "al-Falaq" in the first verse, a generic term referring to the process of 'splitting', has been restricted in most translations to one particular type of splitting, namely 'daybreak' or 'dawn'.[10]

Verse 4 refers to one of 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. This practice is condemned in verse 4.[11]

Text and meaning

Text and transliteration

بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ‎
Bismi l-lāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm(i)
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ ۝‎
1 Qul ’a‘ūdhu birabbi l-falaq(i)
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ۝‎
2 Min sharri mā khalaq(a)
وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ۝‎
3 Wamin sharri ghāsiqin ’idhā waqab(a)
وَمِن شَرِّ ٱلنَّفَّٰثَٰتِ فِى ٱلْعُقَدِ ۝‎
4 Wamin sharrin n-naffāthāti fi l-‘uqad(i)
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ۝‎
5 Wamin sharri ḥāsidin idhā ḥasad(a)

بِسۡمِ اِ۬للَّهِ اِ۬لرَّحۡمَٰنِ اِ۬لرَّحِيمِ ‎
Bismi l-lāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm(i)
قُلَ اَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ اِ۬لۡفَلَقِ ۝‎
1 Qula ‘ūdhu birabbi l-falaq(i)
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ۝‎
2 Min sharri mā khalaq(a)
وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ اِذَا وَقَبَ ۝‎
3 Wamin sharri ghāsiqin idhā waqab(a)
وَمِن شَرِّ اِ۬لنَّفَّٰثَاتِ فِي اِ۬لۡعُقَدِ ۝‎
4 Wamin sharrin n-naffāthāti fi l-‘uqad(i)
وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ اِذَا حَسَدَ ۝‎
5 Wamin sharri ḥāsidin idhā ḥasad(a)

Meanings

1 Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
2 "From the evil of what He has created;
3 "And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).
4 "And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
5 "And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
Translation:Noble Quran, 1990


1 Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak
2 From the evil of that which He created
3 And from the evil of darkness when it settles
4 And from the evil of the blowers in knots
5 And from the evil of an envier when he envies."
Translation:Saheeh International, 1997


1 Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn
2 From the mischief of created things;
3 From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
4 From the mischief of those who practise secret arts;
5 And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy.
Translation:Yusuf Ali, 1934


1 Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak
2 From the evil of that which He created;
3 From the evil of the darkness when it is intense,
4 And from the evil of malignant witchcraft,
5 And from the evil of the envier when he envieth.
Translation:Pickthall, 1930


Hadith

The first and foremost exegesis/tafsir of the Qur'an is found in hadith of Muhammad.[12] Although scholars including ibn Taymiyyah claim that Muhammad has commented on the whole of the Qur'an, others including Ghazali cite the limited amount of narratives, thus indicating that he has commented only on a portion of the Qur'an.[13] Ḥadīth (حديث) is literally "speech" or "report", that is a recorded saying or tradition of Muhammad validated by isnad; with Sirah Rasul Allah these comprise the sunnah and reveal shariah. According to Aishah,[14][15] the life of Prophet Muhammad was practical implementation of Qur'an.[16][17][18] Therefore, higher count of hadith elevates the importance of the pertinent surah from a certain perspective. This surah was held in special esteem in hadith, which can be observed by these related narratives. According to hadith, the prophet Muhammad used to recite this surah before sleeping every night.

  • Abu 'Abdullah narrated that Ibn 'Abis Al-Juhani told him that: The Messenger of Allah [SAW] said to him: "O Ibn 'Abis, shall I not tell you of the best thing with which those who seek refuge with Allah may do so?" He said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak."(Al-Falaq), "Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of mankind."(Al-Nas) - these two Surahs."[19][20][21]
  • Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: Whenever the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went to bed, he would blow upon his hands recite Al-Mu'awwidhat; and pass his hands over his body (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). [22]
  • Aishah said : Every night when he prophet (May peace be upon him) went to his bed, he joined his hands and breathed into them, reciting into them:”say: he is Allah, One”(Al-Ikhlas) and say ; I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn(Al-Falaq) and Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of men(Al-Nas). Then he would wipe as much of his body as he could with his hands, beginning with his head, his face and the front of his body, doing that three times.[23]
  • Uqba ibn Amir reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Do you not know that last night certain Ayat were revealed the like of which there is no precedence. They are: 'Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the Rubb of the daybreak' (Al-Falaq), and 'Say: I seek refuge with (Allah) the Rubb of mankind' (Surah 114)."[24][25][26]

Notes
  1. o The original word properly signifies a cleaving, and denotes, says , the production of all things from the darkness of privation to the light of existence. Hence it is used more particularly to signify the breaking forth of the light from darkness.
  1. p ie from the mischiefs/evils proceeding either from the perverseness and evil choice of those beings with free will, or the effects of necessary natural agents: fire, poison etc, the world being good in the whole, though evils may follow from those two causes.[4]
  1. q May also be rendered, "From the mischief of the moon, when she is eclipsed".
  1. r Witches, were believed to tie string into a number of knots while blowing upon them and murmuring magic incantations.[6][7] The Knots which the wizards in the northern parts tie, when they sell mariners a wind (if the stories told of them be true), are also relics of the same superstition.
    The commentators relate that Lobeid, a Jew, with the assistance of his daughters, bewitched Mohammed, by tying eleven knots on a cord, which they hid in a well; whereupon Mohammed falling ill, GOD revealed this chapter and the following, and Gabriel acquainted him with the use he was to make of them, and of the place where the cord was hidden: according to whose directions the prophet sent Ali to fetch the cord, and the same being brought, he repeated the two chapters over it, and at every verse (for they consist of eleven) a knot was loosed, till on finishing the last words, he was entirely freed from the charm.[4][8]

References
  1. George Sale translation
  2. Arabic script in Unicode symbol for a Quran verse, U+06DD, page 3, Proposal for additional Unicode characters
  3. Sahih International translation
  4. Al Beidâwi
  5. George Sale amended by T. B. Irving translation which has mischief & evil as interchageable
  6. articulated by M. Asad
  7. Vide Virgil. in Pharmaceutria
  8. Jallalo’ddin
  10. Leaman, ed. by Oliver (2008). The Qur'an : an encyclopedia (Reprinted. ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32639-1.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  11. Newby, Gordon D. (2002). A concise encyclopedia of Islam. Oneworld. ISBN 1-85168-295-3.
  12. Şatibi, El-muvafakat
  13. Muhsin Demirci, Tefsir Usulü, 120
  14. Grade : Sahih (Al-Albani) صحيح (الألباني) حكم : Reference : Sunan Abi Dawud 1342 In-book reference : Book 5, Hadith 93 English translation : Book 5, Hadith 1337
  15. Al-Adab Al-Mufrad » Dealings with people and good character - كتاب English reference : Book 14, Hadith 308 Arabic reference : Book 1, Hadith 308
  16. Sahih Al- Jami' AI-Saghir, No.4811
  17. Sunan Ibn Majah 2333 In-book reference : Book 13, Hadith 26 English translation : Vol. 3, Book 13, Hadith 2333
  18. Grade : Sahih (Darussalam) Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 1601 In-book reference : Book 20, Hadith 4 English translation : Vol. 2, Book 20, Hadith 1602
  19. Sunan an-Nasa'i 5432 In-book reference : Book 50, Hadith 5 English translation : Vol. 6, Book 50, Hadith 5434
  20. Sunan Abi Dawud 1462 In-book reference : Book 8, Hadith 47 English translation : Book 8, Hadith 1457
  21. Sunan an-Nasa'i 5436 In-book reference : Book 50, Hadith 9 English translation : Vol. 6, Book 50, Hadith 5438
  22. Riyad as-Salihin Book 16, Hadith 1461
  23. Sunan Abu Dawud 5056 In-book reference : Book 43, Hadith 284 English translation : Book 42, Hadith 5038
  24. Sahih Muslim Book 9, Hadith 1014
  25. Sunan an-Nasa'i 954 In-book reference : Book 11, Hadith 79 English translation : Vol. 2, Book 11, Hadith 955
  26. Jami` at-Tirmidhi English reference : Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3367 Arabic reference : Book 47, Hadith 3693
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