Al-Falaq

Sura 113 of the Quran
الفلق
Al-Falaq
The Daybreak
Classification Meccan
Other names Dawn
The Rising Dawn
Position Juzʼ 30
No. of verses 5
No. of words 23
No. of letters 71

Sūrat al-Falaq (Arabic: سورة الفلق‎, "Dawn, Daybreak") is the 113th surah of the Qur'an. It is a brief five verse invocation, asking God (Allah) for protection from the evil of Satan. 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 "I seek refuge", an-Nās tells to seek God refuge from the evil from within, while al-Falaq tells to seek God refuge from the evil from outside, so reading both of them would protect a person from his own mischief and the mischief of others.

Context

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'.[1]

Verse 4 refers to one of soothsayer techniques to partially tie a knot, utter a curse and spit into the knot and pull 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.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leaman, ed. by Oliver (2008). The Qur'an : an encyclopedia (Reprinted. ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-32639-1.
  2. ↑ Newby, Gordon D. (2002). A concise encyclopedia of Islam. Oneworld. ISBN 1-85168-295-3.
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