Gems from the Holy Qur’an
From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)
About the translator:
Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after years of devoted study became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur'an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category, dedicated to “li-qawmin yatafakkaroon” (people who think). Forwarded by Dr Ismat Kamal.
Chapter 113, Al- Falaq ( The Rising Dawn), Verses 1-5 (Complete Surah)
Say: “I seek refuge with the Sustainer of the rising dawn, [ 1 ]
“ from the evil of aught that he has created,
“and from the evil of the black darkness whenever it descends, [ 2 ]
“and from the evil of all human beings bent on occult endeavors, [ 3 ]
“and from the evil of the envious when he envies.” [ 4 ]
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Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] The term al-falaq (“ the light of dawn” or “ the rising dawn”) is often used topically to describe “ the emergence of truth after [a period of ] uncertainty”: 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 to 5), the term “evil” (sharr) has not only an objective but also a subjective connotation – namely, fear of evil.
[ 3 ] Literally, “of those that blow (an-naffathaat) upon knots”: an idiomatic phrase current in pre-Islamic Arabia and, hence, employed in classical Arabic to designate all supposedly occult endeavors: 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 naffathaat does not, as Zamakhshari and Raazi point out, necessarily indicate “women”, but may 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 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 Rasheed Rida (see Manaar 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 endeavors, 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 Zamakshari quotes a saying of the Caliph ‘Umar bin ‘Abd al-Aziz (called “the second ‘Umar” on account of his piety and integrity): “I cannot think of any wrongdoer (zaalim) who is more likely to be the wronged one (mazluum) than he who envies another.”
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