Surah Al-Falaq — The Daybreak

Introduction to Surah Al-Falaq

Five verses, one hundred and thirteenth in the written order. Most printed editions class it as Meccan, including the text shown here, though a number of early authorities held it Medinan, on the strength of the occasion reported for it.

The pair

Al-Falaq and the surah after it are recited together and are known as al-mu’awwidhatayn, the two of seeking refuge. They are the last two chapters of the Qur’an and among the most commonly recited of all its passages, said at night, after prayers, and over the sick.

The occasion usually reported is that the Prophet was affected by a spell worked against him by Labid ibn al-A’sam. That incident is in both Sahih collections, narrated by Aisha (Sahih al-Bukhari 5763, Sahih Muslim 2189a). What those two narrations do not say is that these two surahs were revealed in response to it; that connection comes from the commentary and biographical literature rather than from the sound reports of the incident itself. The two are worth keeping apart, because they are almost always told as one story.

What it asks refuge from

The Lord of the daybreak — al-falaq, the splitting, used of dawn breaking through the night and also of a seed splitting open. Then four things.

From the evil of what He created, which is general. From the evil of darkness when it settles. From the evil of those who blow on knots, which is the surah’s reference to sorcery and the most specific line in it. And from the evil of the envier when he envies.

The four are all external: things that come at a person from outside. That is what distinguishes this surah from the one that follows it, and the two are a pair because of the division.

The last of the four

Envy is placed alongside darkness and sorcery, which is a strong position for an emotion to occupy. The phrasing is careful: not the envier as such, but the envier when he envies — the harm is located in the act rather than in the person.