Surah al-Falaq

Surah al-Falaq — The Daybreak: Four Evils and the Refuge in the Lord of the Dawn

سُورَةُ الفَلَق — الفَلَق: أَربَعَةُ شُرُورٍ وَاللَّجَأُ إِلَى رَبِّ الفَلَق

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Surah al-Falaq (سُورَةُ الفَلَق — The Daybreak/Dawn; 5 verses; 113th surah; Meccan; one of the *mu'awwidhatain* — the two surahs of refuge, together with al-Nas) is a supplication of divine protection against four specific categories of harm. The command is to seek refuge (*a'udhu*) in *Rabb al-Falaq* — the Lord of the Daybreak/Splitting of Dawn. *Al-falaq* (the cleaving, the splitting open) may refer to the dawn breaking darkness open, or more generally to any *cleaving* — including the splitting of the seed by rain, the splitting of the earth from underground springs. The four evils enumerated: the evil of what He created generally (*sharr ma khalaq*); the evil of darkness as it descends (*ghasiq idha waqab*); the evil of the blowers in knots (*al-naffathat fi al-'uqad*); the evil of an envier when he envies (*hasid idha hasad*).

The Four Evils (113:2-5)

1. Min sharr ma khalaq — From the evil of what He created. This is the universal protection: creation contains good and evil; the seeker of refuge acknowledges that evil exists within the created order and asks for protection against it.

2. Wa-min sharr ghasiq idha waqab — From the evil of darkness when it descends. Al-ghasiq — the thick darkness of night, or a full moon’s absence. Idha waqab — when it falls/penetrates. Classical scholars: the reference is to the dangers of night — physical (predators, criminals, demons) and spiritual (disturbed sleep, bad dreams, reduced vigilance).

3. Wa-min sharr al-naffathat fi al-‘uqad — From the evil of those who blow on knots. Al-naffathat — blowers, a feminine plural (commentators: referring to women who practiced a form of magic/witchcraft involving tying knots and blowing on them). The surah’s inclusion of this evil does not institutionalize superstition but acknowledges the real harm that can come from malicious intent directed against another person, whether through metaphysical means or psychological manipulation.

4. Wa-min sharr hasid idha hasad — From the evil of an envier when he envies. Hasad (envy/jealousy) — wanting another’s blessings to be removed, not merely to share in them. This is the most personal and common of the four evils: the malicious gaze of envy that wishes harm. The Islamic tradition treats ‘ayn (the evil eye) and hasad as real spiritual phenomena with real consequences — and this verse is the Quranic acknowledgment.

Surah al-Falaq — The Daybreak: Four Evils and the Refuge in the Lord of the Dawn

The Four Evils (113:2-5)

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