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Recitation: Sa'ad Al
Ghamdi
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Introduction and Summary
This early Makkan Surah provides
the antidote to superstition and fear by teaching us to seek refuge in Allah
from every kind of ill arising from outer nature and from dark and evil
plottings and envy on the part of others.
C.293 (The running Commentary, in
Rhythmic Prose)
It is Allah Who
brings forth light from darkness,
life and activity
from death, spiritual
Enlightenment from
ignorance and superstition
Banish fear, and
trust His Providence
No danger, then, from
the outer world,
No secret plottings
from perverted wills,
No disturbance of
your happiness or good
Can affect the
fortress of your inmost soul.
قُلْ
أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ
﴿١﴾
1. Say:
I
seek
refuge
with the Lord of the
Dawn,
C6301.
In Allah's created world, there are all kinds of forces and counter-forces,
especially those put in motion by beings who have been endowed with some sort of
will.
The forces
of good may be compared to light, and those of evil to darkness.
Allah can
cleave the depths of darkness and produce light
(6:96), and
therefore we should cast off fear and take refuge in divine guidance and
goodness.
C6302.
Falaq
is the Dawn or Daybreak, the cleaving of darkness and the manifestation of
light.
This may
be understood in various senses:
1. literally,
when the darkness of the night is at its worst, rays of light pierce through and
produce the dawn;
2. when
the darkness of ignorance is at its worst, the light of Allah pierces through
the soul and gives it enlightenment:
(24:35);
3. non-existence
is darkness, and life and activity may be typified by light.
مِن شَرِّ
مَا خَلَقَ
﴿٢﴾
2. From
the mischief of created things;
C6303. See
n.
6301 above.
Our trust
in Allah is the refuge from every kind of fear and superstition, every kind of
danger and evil.
Three
special kinds of mischief are specified in the next three verses, against which
our best guard is our trust in Allah, the Light of the heavens and the earth.
They are:
1.
physical dangers, typified by darkness.
2.
physical dangers within us, typified by Secret Arts, and
3. physical
dangers from without us, resulting from a perverted will, which seeks to destroy
any good that we enjoy.
وَمِن
شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ
﴿٣﴾
3. From
the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
C6304. The darkness of the
night, physical darkness, is a good type of physical dangers and difficulties.
Many people are afraid of physical darkness, and all are afraid of physical
injuries, accidents, and calamities.
We should not fear, but having
taken reasonable precautions, trust in Allah.
وَمِن
شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
﴿٤﴾
4. From
the mischief of those who practice Secret Arts;
C6305.
Those
(feminine) who blow on knots', this having been a favourite form of witchcraft
practised by perverted women. Such secret arts cause psychological terror.
They may
be what is called magic, or secret plottings, or the display of false and
seductive charms
(3:14), or the
spreading of false and secret rumours or slanders to frighten men or deter them
from right action.
There is
fraud in such things, but men are swayed by it. They should cast off fear and do
their duty.
وَمِن
شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ
﴿٥﴾
5. And
from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy.
C6306. Malignant envy,
translated into action, seeks to destroy the happiness or the material or
spiritual good enjoyed by other people.
The best guard against it is trust
in Allah with purity of heart.
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