Al-Falaq

Template:Short description Template:Infobox surah Template:Quran

Al-Falaq or The Daybreak<ref>George Sale's translation</ref> (Template:Langx, al-falaq) is the 113th and penultimate chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an. Alongside the 114th surah (Al-Nas), it helps form the Al-Mu'awwidhatayn. Al-Falaq is a brief five ayat (verse) surah, asking God for protection from evil:

۝<ref>Arabic script in Unicode symbol for a Quran verse, U+06DD, page 3, Proposal for additional Unicode characters</ref> Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak,<ref name=SIT>Sahih International translation</ref><ref group="o">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.</ref>

۝ From the evil of His creation <ref group="p">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.<ref name=AB>Al Beidâwi</ref></ref>

۝ And from the evil of darkness when it settles<ref group="q">q May also be rendered, "From the mischief of the moon, when she is eclipsed".</ref>

۝ And from the evil of the blowers in knots<ref>George Sale amended by T. B. Irving's translation which has mischief and evil as interchangeable</ref><ref group="r">r Witches, were believed to tie string into a number of knots while blowing upon them and murmuring magic incantations.<ref>Articulated by M. Asad</ref><ref>Vide Virgil. in Pharmaceutria</ref> 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.<ref name=AB/><ref>Jallalo’ddin</ref></ref>

۝ And from the evil of an envier when he envies."<ref name=SIT/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ContextEdit

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 Allah for refuge from the evil from within, while al-Falaq tells to seek Allah 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 believed revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which indicates a revelation in Mecca rather than in Medina. Early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca where Muhammed was not a leader, and not persecuted in Medina, where he was a protected leader.

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'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Verse 4 refers to one of the soothsayer's techniques: partially tying a knot, uttering a curse, spitting into the knot and pulling 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Text and meaningEdit

File:Chapter 113, Al-Falaq (Mujawwad) - Recitation of the Holy Qur'an.mp3

Al-Falaq in mujawwad

Text and transliterationEdit

Hafs from Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud

Template:Script/Arabic
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
¹ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
² {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
³ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
⁴ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
⁵ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}

Warsh from Nafi‘ al-Madani

Template:Script/Arabic
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
¹ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
² {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
³ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
⁴ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}
Template:Script/Arabic
⁵ {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}

MeaningsEdit

Template:Verse Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
Template:Verse "From the evil of what He has created;
Template:Verse "And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).
Template:Verse "And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
Template:Verse "And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
Template:Right

Template:Verse Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak
Template:Verse From the evil of that which He created
Template:Verse And from the evil of darkness when it settles
Template:Verse And from the evil of the blowers in knots
Template:Verse And from the evil of an envier when he envies."
Template:Right

Template:Verse Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn
Template:Verse From the mischief of created things;
Template:Verse From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
Template:Verse From the mischief of those who practise secret arts;
Template:Verse And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy.
Template:Right

Template:Verse Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak
Template:Verse From the evil of that which He created;
Template:Verse From the evil of the darkness when it is intense,
Template:Verse And from the evil of malignant witchcraft,
Template:Verse And from the evil of the envier when he envieth.
Template:Right

HadithEdit

The first and foremost exegesis/tafsir of the Qur'an is found in hadith of Muhammad.<ref>Şatibi, El-muvafakat</ref> 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.<ref>Muhsin Demirci, Tefsir Usulü, 120</ref> 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,<ref>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</ref><ref>Al-Adab Al-Mufrad » Dealings with people and good character - كتاب English reference : Book 14, Hadith 308 Arabic reference : Book 1, Hadith 308</ref> the life of Muhammad was practical implementation of Qur'an.<ref>Sahih Al- Jami' AI-Saghir, No.4811</ref><ref>Sunan Ibn Majah 2333 In-book reference : Book 13, Hadith 26 English translation : Vol. 3, Book 13, Hadith 2333</ref><ref>Grade : Sahih (Darussalam) Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 1601 In-book reference : Book 20, Hadith 4 English translation : Vol. 2, Book 20, Hadith 1602</ref> 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, Muhammad used to recite this surah before sleeping every night.

Abu 'Abdullah narrated that Ibn 'Abis Al-Juhani told him that: The Messenger of God [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."<ref>Sunan an-Nasa'i 5432

In-book reference : Book 50, Hadith 5 English translation : Vol. 6, Book 50, Hadith 5434</ref><ref>Sunan Abi Dawud 1462 In-book reference : Book 8, Hadith 47 English translation : Book 8, Hadith 1457</ref><ref>Sunan an-Nasa'i 5436 In-book reference : Book 50, Hadith 9 English translation : Vol. 6, Book 50, Hadith 5438</ref>

Aishah 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).<ref>Riyad as-Salihin Book 16, Hadith 1461</ref>
Aishah said : Every night when the 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.<ref>Sunan Abu Dawud 5056

In-book reference : Book 43, Hadith 284 English translation : Book 42, Hadith 5038</ref>

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)."<ref>Sahih Muslim Book 9, Hadith 1014</ref><ref>Sunan an-Nasa'i 954

In-book reference : Book 11, Hadith 79 English translation : Vol. 2, Book 11, Hadith 955</ref><ref>Jami` at-Tirmidhi English reference : Vol. 5, Book 44, Hadith 3367 Arabic reference : Book 47, Hadith 3693</ref>

It is narrated from Muhammad that whoever recites this Surah in the month of Ramadhan in any of his prayers, it is as if he has fasted in Makkah and he will get the reward for performing Hajj and ‘Umra.
Imam Muhammad al-Baqir said that in the prayer of Shafa’a (in Salaatul-layl) one should recite Surah al-Falaq in the first rak’aat and an-Naas in the second.