113
Muhammad Asad
AL-FALAQ (THE RISING DAWN)
THE
HUNDRED-THIRTEENTH SURAH
Total Verses: 5
Introduction
WHEREAS most of the
commentators assign this and the next surah
to the early part of the Mecca period, some authorities (e.g., Razi, Ibn Kathir)
consider them to have been revealed at Medina, while yet others (e.g., Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Baydawi) leave the question open. On the basis of the scant
evidence available to us it appears probable that both these surahs are of early Meccan
origin.
IN THE NAME OF
GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
(1) SAY: "I seek refuge with the Sustainer of the
rising dawn, 1
(2) "from the evil of aught
that He has created,
(3) "and from the evil of the black darkness whenever
it descends, 2
(4) "and from the evil of all human beings bent on
occult endeavours, 3
(5) "and from the evil of the
envious when he envies." 4
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1 The term al-falaq
("the light of dawn" or "the rising dawn") is often used
tropically to describe "the emergence of the truth after [a period of] uncertainty"
(Taj al-Arus): hence, the
appellation "Sustainer of the rising dawn" implies that God is the
source of all cognition of truth, and that one's "seeking refuge" with
Him is synonymous with striving after truth.
2 I.e., the
darkness of despair, or of approaching death. In all these four verses (2-5), the term "evil"
(sharr) has not only an objective but also a
subjective connotation - namely, fear of evil.
3 Lit., "of those that blow (an-naffathat) upon knots": an idiomatic phrase current in
pre-Islamic Arabia and, hence, employed in classical Arabic to designate all
supposedly occult endeavours; it was probably derived
from the practice of "witches" and "sorcerers" who used to
tie a string into a number of knots while blowing upon them and murmuring magic
incantations. The feminine gender of naffathat does
not, as Zamakhshari and Razi
point out, necessarily indicate "women", but may well relate to "human
beings" (anfus, sing. nafs,
a noun that is grammatically feminine). In his
explanation of the above verse, Zamakhshari
categorically rejects all belief in the reality and effectiveness of such
practices, as well as of the concept of "magic" as such. Similar
views have been expressed - albeit in a much more elaborate manner, on the
basis of established psychological findings - by Muhammad Abduh
and Rashid Rida (see Manar
I, 398 ff.). The reason why the believer is enjoined to "seek refuge with
God" from such practices despite their palpable irrationality is - according
to Zamakhshari- to be found in the inherent
sinfulness of such endeavours (see surah 2, note 84), and in the mental danger in which they
may involve their author.
4 I.e., from the
effects - moral and social- which another person's envy may have on one's life,
as well as from succumbing oneself to the evil of envy. In this connection, Zamakhshari
quotes a saying of the Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz
(called "the Second Umar" on account of his
piety and integrity): "I cannot think of any wrongdoer (zalim) who is more likely to be the wronged one (mazlum) than he who envies another."