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113 - Surat Alfalaq/Tafseer
5 Verses - Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Qul a'auzu bi Rabbi alfalaq (1).
Say I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak.
Men sharri ma khalaq (2).
From the evil of that which He created.
Wa men sharri ghaseqin iza waqab (3).
And from the evil of darkness when it settles.
Wa men sharri alnafathati fi alauqad (4).
And from the evil of the blowers in knots.
Wa men sharri hasiden iza hasad (5).
And from the evil of an envier when he envies.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Alfalaq indicates that man is surrounded by many evils, among the most dangerous of which are magic and envy, therefore, this Surah is considered a protection for man from these evils. Surat Alfalaq and Surat Alnas are called Mu'awwazatain, and Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said when Surat Alnas and Surat Alfalaq have been revealed to Him that the like of which has not been seen before, as Uqbah bin Amir narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "What wonderful verses have been sent down today, the like of which has never been seen! {Say I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak} and {Say I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind}" (Sahih Muslim 814). And as narrated by Aisha that: "Whenever the Prophet (PBUH) went to bed every night, He used to cup His hands together and blow into them, then recite Surat Alikhlas, Surat Alfalaq, and Surat Alnas, and then rub His hands over whatever parts of His body He was able to rub, starting with His head, face, and front of His body, and He used to do that three times" (Sahih Albukhari 5017).
Allah Almighty says in the first three verses (1-3) "Say I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak, from the evil of that which He created, and from the evil of darkness when it settles", that is, Allah commanded His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) to seek refuge in Him, the Lord of the daybreak, as He is the One who splits the daybreak as mentioned in Aya (96) of Surat Alan'am, from the evil of what He has created, and from the evil of darkness when it settles, and Allah has commanded the believers to seek refuge in Him from the evil of that time for it is the time when devils spread out, coming and going from the beginning of sunset until an hour of the night has passed, as Jabir bin Abdullah narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "When night falls (or when it is evening), Stop your children from going out, for the devils spread out at that time, but when an hour of the night has passed, Release them and Close the doors and Mention Allah's Name, for Satan does not open a closed door, Tie the mouth of your waterskin and Mention Allah's Name, Cover your containers and utensils and Mention Allah's Name, Cover them even by placing something across it, and Extinguish your lamps" (Sahih Albukhari 5623).
Allah Almighty says in the next verse (4) "And from the evil of the blowers in knots", that is, Allah commanded His Messenger (PBUH) to seek refuge in Him from the sorcerers who blow in knots of thread while reciting incantations over them to inflict physical and psychological harm to others. The one who blows in knots uses devils to make magic, and Allah has linked disbelief with magic where He says in Aya (102) of Surat Albaqarah {And Solomon did not disbelieve, but the devils disbelieved, they teach the people magic}.
And a Jew bewitched the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to such an extent that He felt ill and sometimes felt confused about whether He had done something or not, and He was informed that a Jewish man had cast a black magic (spell) on him, as Aisha narrated: "A man called Labid Bin Ala'sam from the tribe of Banu Zuraiq made a magic on Allah's Messenger till Allah's Messenger started imagining that He had done a thing that He had not really done, one day or one night, He was with us, He invoked Allah and invoked for a long period, and then said: O Aisha! Do you know that Allah has instructed me concerning the matter I have asked Him about?, two men came to Me and one of them sat near My head and the other near My feet, one of them said to his companion What is the disease of this man?, the other replied "He is under the effect of magic, the first one asked Who has made the magic on Him?, the other replied Labid Bin Ala'asm, the first one asked ''What material did he use?", the other replied 'A comb and the hairs stuck to it and the skin of pollen of a male date palm, the first one asked Where is that?, the other replied In the well of Zarwan, so Allah's Messenger along with some of His companions went there and came back saying O Aisha, the color of its water is like the infusion of Henna leaves, the tops of the date-palm trees near it are like the heads of the devils, I asked O Allah's Messenger! Why did you not show it?, He said Since Allah cured Me, I dislike to let evil spread among the people, then He ordered that the well be filled up with earth" (Sahih Albukhari 5763).
And in another narration of Zaid bin Arqam: "A Jewish man cast a spell on the Prophet (PBUH) and He fell ill as a result of it for several days, then Gabriel, the Angel, came to Him and said A Jewish man has put a spell in You in such and such a well, there is a knot that he tied for You, the Messenger of Allah sent them to take it out and bring it to Him, then the Messenger of Allah got up as if He had been released from some bonds, no mention of that was made to that Jew and He did not see that in his face at all" (Sunan Alnasai 4080).
Allah Almighty says in the last verse (5) "And from the evil of an envier when he envies", that is, Allah commanded His Messenger (PBUH) seek refuge in Him from the evil of an envier when he envies, as envy, like magic, causes physical and psychological harm to others, and the envier wishes that the blessings would be taken away from others, as he is not satisfied with what Allah has decreed for him, rather he wishes for himself the blessing that Allah has bestowed upon others, and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has linked the love of goodness for others with faith saying in narration of Anas bin Malik: "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself" (Sahih Albukhari 13).
And as narrated by Ibn Abbas that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "The influence of an evil eye is a fact, if anything would precede the destiny, it would be the influence of an evil eye, and when you are asked to take bath, you should take bath i.e. as a cure from the influence of evil eye for those afflicted by it" (Sahih Muslim 2188). And Gabriel, the Angel, recited Ruqya (Spiritual healing) over Allah's Messenger (PBUH), as Abu Sa'id Alkhudri narrated: "Gabriel came to the Prophet and said O Muhammad! Are You suffering?, He said yes, Gabriel said Besmi Ellahi arqeeq, men quli shay'in you'zeek, men sharri quli nafsen, aw aiyni haseden, besmi Ellahi arqeeq, wa Allahu yashfeek: In the name of Allah, I recite Ruqyah (prayer) over You from the evil of every person and the evil eye of every envier, in the name of Allah, I recite Ruqyah over You, May Allah cure You" (Jami' Altirmidhi 972).
And Allah's Messenger (PBUH) used to recite Ruqyah over His grandsons, Al-Hassan and Al-Husain, as Ibn Abbas narrated: "The Prophet (PBUH) used to seek refuge in Allah for Al-Hassan and Al-Husain and say your forefather (i.e. Abraham) used to seek refuge in Allah for Ismael and Isaac by reciting the following A'auzu be-kalemati ellahi al-ttamah men kulli shaiytanin wa hammatin wa men kulli aiynin lammah: O Allah! I seek refuge in Your perfect words from every devil and from poisonous pests and from every evil, harmful, and envious eye" (Sahih Albukhari 3371).