Sūrat al-Falaq

سورۃ الفلق

Sūrat al-Falaq, Makkī — revealed in Makkah. It has five (5) āyāt.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillāhi l-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ

qul aʿūdhu bi-rabb al-falaq.

"Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak." (al-Falaq 113:1)

Qul — say. Aʿūdhu — I seek refuge — I take shelter, I hold myself. Rabb — the Lord, the Provider — the Guardian who covers and encompasses. Al-falaq — the daybreak — the dawn — because that is when one has the opportunity to speak — the Lord is the most illuminating of things — al-falaq — from falaq meaning the splitting open of the morning — that is, the dawn, the morning is meant. Because every morning when people are in deep sleep, thieves and burglars come and seize them — the Lord of the morning I take refuge in — from their wickedness guard me — Abū Lahab — he is the enemy of all light from this side — and so I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak, the Rabb who removes all darkness. The falaq — from splitting open and emergence occurs — like the hatching of a chick — it may be said that here falaq means the morning — for every morning when people are in deep slumber, thieves and opportunists come — and before the light the forces of darkness move on. The morning light forces them to go away.

Translation: "Say — I seek refuge in the Lord of the morning."

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

min sharri mā khalaq.

"From the evil of what He created." (al-Falaq 113:2)

Sharr — evil, wickedness — whatever wickedness there is — that to which keeping the self away from God is the cause — and all evil is khayr (good) — wujūd (existence) is seen here as something visible and evil is from the side of — he is not a creation of God alone — things good and evil: the good comes from the God side, the evil comes from the side of non-existence, but which is which — some things in which evil predominates and good is overcome — and some things in which the opposite prevails.

Evil is not only a creation of God — things good and evil have both sides to them — some things whose evil is more and good less — the good is in the things that benefit — it is more beneficial — and the system of the world is that evil benefits and more things benefit from the good side — looking ahead, what is beneficial is more easily available in the home or in the library meeting — books increase, spread, grow and multiply — and the progress of civilization is enormous — and you also use it for yourself and it benefits others — and your target's goal will be fulfilled and the world's goal of goodness fully achieved.

Khalqā — khalq — the meanings are — creation — what did it bring forth? Some say they mean the beings of the physical and spiritual world — in this discussion they say in general khalq (creation) — some say khalq (creation) — and Allah ʿālam ul-amr (the world of command) is always as it is — a world of ʿālam ul-khalq (creation) is in the temporal world — and a world of temporal creation is for it from which development gradually takes place — the world of temporal creation takes place under conditions of time — in it those are not born whose conditions are not there — only Allah Most High saying kun (Be!) sufficient — and truly this is the reality of the investigations of the Lord.

Min sharri mā khalaqa — from the evil of its things, not from the side of creation and existence and light and nūr from God's side — but from the things of God:

Translation: "From the evil of everything He created."

وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ

wa-min sharri ghāsiqin idhā waqab.

"And from the evil of darkness when it spreads." (al-Falaq 113:3)

Wa — and. Min — from. Sharri ghāsiq — from the evil of darkness. Idhā — when. Waqaba — it crept in, it encompassed.

Night is the time of the snake, the leopard, the tiger, the thief, the robber — the shayāṭīn (devils) and the jinnāt (jinn) also prowl — it is a time of hiding for enemies of life. They are the internal enemies who have been among people since the beginning. A world of trepidation and uncertainty — an environment of confusion — thinking one thought and then another, hiding thoughts — thinking from God's side — a darkness falls on the heart — the dark falls upon the heart — the light of faith is born in the heart — similarly the shubuhāt (doubts) become an attack — and the light of faith is always under the assault of the earthquake of fear. Shubuhāt will always keep coming.

Translation: "And from the evil of darkness when it spreads."

وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ

wa-min sharri l-naffāthāti fī l-ʿuqad.

"And from the evil of the blowers in knots." (al-Falaq 113:4)

A-l-nafth — blowing — the difference between nafth and nafkh is this — that nafth has dampness in it — ʿuqad — ʿuqda — a knot, a node, also a point of attachment — intention and will — elements and organs, composition of blood-colour of ṣafrāʾ — black bulgham — a sorcerer woman in knots, she goes more and more — she binds in them the elements and organs to make a confusion of temperament — she overpowers some of them — makes one a young woman in two — the intellect and imagination weakens — making the senses more feeble and weaker — the soul dies and the desire and will wane — the diseases of these arise — and one must seek refuge from them by the steadfastness of belief in action.

Translation: "And from the evil of those women who blow in knots (i.e. the groups of women who practice sorcery with strong resolve)."

وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ

wa-min sharri ḥāsidin idhā ḥasad.

"And from the evil of the envier when he envies." (al-Falaq 113:5)

Translation: "And from the evil of the enviers when they envy."

Someone's success and achievement the cold-hearted people cannot bear to see — and in rooting out success they make various efforts. We have more than all others: Allah is our king. The worst enemy is the jealous envier — one who by nature is jealous — the hidden enemy is even more — when we are good and our father sent us to the gardens of Paradise — when he looks at them and understanding comes to him — one must seek refuge from the evil of this oppressor — God will give protection from it. The person of knowledge, truly — the knowledge of nature and the world — looks and sees — it is even more necessary to seek refuge from it. That our mother — the knowledge of the world came and the Lord is that — more and more it comes — the closer they seek refuge from the sharr (evil) — from the more of the ẓālim (oppressor) we seek refuge in God — aʿūdhu billāhi min al-shayṭāni l-rajīm — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shayṭān.