114- Surat Alnas/Tafseer
6 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'auza be-Rabbi alnas (1).
Say I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind.
Maliki alnas (2).
The King of mankind.
Illahi alnas (3).
The God of mankind.
Men sharri alwaswasi alkhannas (4).
From the evil of the whisperer, who withdraws.
Allazi youwaswisu fi sudouri alnas (5).
Who whispers into the breasts of mankind.
Mena aljinnati wa alnas (6).
From among the jinn and mankind.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Alnas and Surat Alfalaq (Mu'awwazatain) are two Surahs that afford protection against afflictions whether they are spiritual or physical, as Aisha narrated: "Whenever Allah's Messenger (PBUH) became sick, He would recite Mu'awwazatain (Surat Alfalaq and Surat Alnas), and then blow His breath over His body. And when He became seriously ill, I used to recite the two Surahs and rub His hands over His body hoping for its blessings" (Sahih Muslim 5016). So by reciting the two Surahs, man will place himself under the protection of Allah Almighty, and he will take a Divine protection against the calamities of the worldly life and the Hereafter at the same time. 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'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).
Allah Almighty says in the first three verses (1-3) "Say I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind, the King of mankind, the God of mankind", that is, Allah commanded His servants to seek refuge in Him with three of His attributes: Lordship, Sovereignty, and Divinity, so Allah is the Lord, the King, and the God of all people, therefore, He is more worthy of veneration and more deserving of worship and He is the One to whom refuge should be sought and to whom man should turn as He is the only One who sets his affairs right, and protects him from Satan whose task is to keep man away from his Lord.
Allah Almighty says in the last three verses (4-6) "From the evil of the whisperer, who withdraws, who whispers into the breasts of mankind, From among the jinn and mankind", that is, Allah commanded His servants to seek refuge in Him from the evil of Satan who whispers once and retreats another time, and there is no one among the Children of Adam who does not have a companion from the devils who makes immoral acts appealing to him, and the one who is protected is the one whom Allah protects, as Abdullah bin Mas'ud narrated that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "There is none amongst you except that his companion from among the Jinn (devils) has been assigned to him, they (the companions) said and With You too?, thereupon, He said yes, but Allah has helped Me against him and he has accepted Islam, thus, he does not command Me but for good" (Sahih Muslim 2814).
When man remembers Allah, Satan shrinks and is defeated, and if he does not remember Allah, Satan grows powerful and defeats man with his evil whispers, and as narrated by Abu Al-Malih on the authority of a man: "I was riding on a mount behind the Prophet (PBUH) , the mount stumbled, thereupon, I said May the devil perish! He (PBUH) said Do not say May the devil perish, for when you say that, he will swell so much so that he will be like a house, and say by my power, but Say In the Name of Allah, for when you say that, he will diminish so much so that he will be like a fly" (Sunan Abi Dawood 4982).
Satan whispers into the breasts of people to turn them away from the remembrance of Allah, specially when they are praying, as Abu Hurayrah narrated: "When the Adhan is pronounced, Satan takes to his heels and passes wind with noise during his flight in order not to hear the Adhan, when the Adhan is completed, he comes back and again takes to his heels when the Iqamah is pronounced, and after its completion, he returns again till he whispers into the heart of the person and makes him remember things which he does not recall to his mind before the prayer and that causes him to forget how much he has prayed" (Sahih Albukhari 608).
Satan is a sworn enemy of the believers and he whispers to them of disbelief and casts doubts in their hearts, as Abdullah bin Abbas narrated: ''A man came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said Messenger of Allah! One of us has thoughts of such nature that he would rather be reduced to charcoal than speak about them, He (PBUH) said Allahu Akbar: Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, Alhamdu lellah: Praise be to Allah, the One who reduced the guile of devil to evil prompting" (Sunan Abi Dawood 5112).
Seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan is the best way to repel his plots, and Allah has commanded the believers to seek refuge in Him from Satan in more than one place in the Holy Quran besides the current Surah, when He says in Aya (200) of Surat Ala'raf {And if a whisper comes to you from Satan, an evil whisper, then Seek refuge in Allah, indeed, He is All-Hearing, All-Knower} and in Aya (36) of Surat Fussilat {And if a whisper comes to you from Satan, an evil whisper, then Seek refuge in Allah, indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knower}, then Allah assures that there are devils among the Jinn, and there are devils among humans, and the devil from among the Jinn whispers into the hearts of mankind while the devil from among humans come openly, so Allah commanded the believers to seek refuge in Him from the devils of humans and Jinn.