| Number: | 113 |
| Number-3: | 113 |
| Al-Falaq | |
| Name-Ar: | ٱلْفَلَقِ |
| Name-En: | The Daybreak |
| Prev Sura: | Quran 112 |
| Next Sura: | Quran 114 |
| Classification: | Meccan |
| Juz: | 30 |
| Verses: | 5 |
| Words: | 23 |
| Letters: | 71 |
| Audio: | Chapter 113, Al-Falaq (Mujawwad) - Recitation of the Holy Qur'an.mp3 |
Al-Falaq or The Daybreak[1] (Arabic: ٱلْفَلَقِ, al-falaq) is the 113th and penultimate chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an. Alongside the 114th surah (Al-Nas), it helps form the Al-Mu'awwidhatayn. Al-Flaq is a brief five ayat (verse) surah, asking God for protection from evil:
[2] Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak,[3]
From the evil of His creation
And from the evil of darkness when it settles
And from the evil of the blowers in knots[4]
And from the evil of an envier when he envies.[3] [5]
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 with "I seek refuge"; an-Nās tells to seek God for refuge from the evil from within, while al-Falaq tells to seek God for refuge from the evil from outside, so reading both of them would protect a person from his own mischief and the mischief of others.
Regarding the timing and contextual background of the believed revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which indicates a revelation in Mecca rather than in Medina. Early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca where Muhammed was not a leader, and not persecuted in Medina, where he was a protected leader.
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'.[6]
Verse 4 refers to one of the soothsayer's techniques: partially tieing a knot, uttering a curse, spitting into the knot and pulling 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.[7]
Arabic: Bismi l-lāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm(i)
¹ Arabic: Qul ’a‘ūdhu birabbi l-falaq(i)
² Arabic: Min sharri mā khalaq(a)
³ Arabic: Wamin sharri ghāsiqin ’idhā waqab(a)
⁴ Arabic: Wamin sharrin n-naffāthāti fi l-‘uqad(i)
⁵ Arabic: Wamin sharri ḥāsidin idhā ḥasad(a)
Arabic: Bismi l-lāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm(i)
¹ Arabic: Qu{{color|magenta|la
² Arabic: Min sharri mā khalaq(a)
³ Arabic: Wamin sharri ghāsi{{color|magenta|qin i
⁴ Arabic: Wamin sharrin n-naffāthāti fi l-‘uqad(i)
⁵ Arabic: Wamin sharri ḥāsi{{color|magenta|din i
Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
"From the evil of what He has created;
"And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it comes with its darkness; (or the moon as it sets or goes away).
"And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
"And from the evil of the envier when he envies."
The first and foremost exegesis/tafsir of the Qur'an is found in hadith of Muhammad.[8] Although scholars including ibn Taymiyyah claim that Muhammad has commented on the whole of the Qur'an, others including Ghazali cite the limited amount of narratives, thus indicating that he has commented only on a portion of the Qur'an.[9] Ḥadīth (حديث) is literally "speech" or "report", that is a recorded saying or tradition of Muhammad validated by isnad; with Sirah Rasul Allah these comprise the sunnah and reveal shariah. According to Aishah,[10] [11] the life of Muhammad was practical implementation of Qur'an.[12] [13] [14] Therefore, higher count of hadith elevates the importance of the pertinent surah from a certain perspective. This surah was held in special esteem in hadith, which can be observed by these related narratives. According to hadith, Muhammad used to recite this surah before sleeping every night.