Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Falaq · 113:1
Say, "I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is glorified and whose names are sanctified: قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ (Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the daybreak.) — (113:1)
Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance is glorified, addresses His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Say, O Muḥammad, I take refuge with the Lord of al-Falaq, against the evil of what He has created from the creation.
The scholars of exegesis differed over the meaning of al-Falaq. Some said: it is a prison in Hell (jahannam) that bears this name.
Mention of those who said this:
Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Ṭaḥḥān related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ḥarb related to us, on the authority of Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of the one who related it to him, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: al-Falaq: a prison in Hell (jahannam).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Ḥarb related to us, on the authority of Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Farwa, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning al-Falaq: a prison in Hell (jahannam).
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Al-ʿAwwām ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Jawlānī informed us, who said: A man from among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Syria, saw the houses of the protected people under Islamic rule (ahl al-dhimma) and the affluence and life and abundance that had been given to them in the temporal existence, and he said: "May you have no father! Is there not, behind them, al-Falaq?" It was said: And what is al-Falaq? He said: a house in Hell (jahannam) — when it is opened, the entire population of Hell screams from its intense heat.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: I heard al-Suddī saying: al-Falaq: a pit in Hell (jahannam).
ʿAlī ibn Ḥasan al-Azdī related to me, saying: Al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, similarly.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, similarly.
Isḥāq ibn Wahb al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Masʿūd ibn Mūsā ibn Mishkān al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Naṣr ibn Khuzayma al-Khurāsānī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn Ṣafwān, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of Abī Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "al-Falaq: a pit in Hell (jahannam), covered."
Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Usayd related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of Abī ʿUbayd, on the authority of Kaʿb, that he entered a synagogue and was impressed by its beauty, and he said: "A splendid building, a people who have lost the way. I am content for you with al-Falaq." It was said: And what is al-Falaq? He said: a house in Hell (jahannam) — when it is opened, the entire population of Hell screams from its intense heat.
Others said: it is one of the names of Hell (jahannam).
Mention of those who said this:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Khaytham ibn ʿAbd Allāh saying: I asked Abā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥublī about al-Falaq, and he said: it is Hell (jahannam).
Others said: al-Falaq is the daybreak.
Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he said: al-Falaq: the daybreak.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, saying: ʿAwf informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning this verse قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he said: al-Falaq: the daybreak.
He said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: al-Falaq: the daybreak.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ; and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān — both together on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sālim al-Afṭas, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, similarly.
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Azdī related to me, saying: Al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, similarly.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, on the authority of Jābir, who said: al-Falaq: the daybreak.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, similarly.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed us, on the authority of al-Quraẓī, that he used to say concerning this verse قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he says: the Splitter of the grain and the seed; he said: the Splitter of the daybreak.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — all together on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his words قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he said: the daybreak.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he said: al-Falaq: the splitting of the day.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: al-Falaq: the splitting of the daybreak.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words of Allah قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ — he was asked: the splitting of the daybreak? He said: Yes. And he recited: فَالِقُ الإِصْبَاحِ وَجَعَلَ اللَّيْلَ سَكَنًا.
Others said: al-Falaq: the creation; and the meaning of the word is: say, I take refuge with the Lord of the creation.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words al-Falaq: he means: the creation.
The correct position is to say: Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is glorified, commanded His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ to say: أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ. And al-falaq in the Arabic of the Arabs is: the splitting of the daybreak; the Arabs say: "he is clearer than the splitting of the daybreak" and "than the distinguishing of the daybreak." And it is also permissible that in Hell (jahannam) there is a prison named falaq. Since that is so, and since the Exalted, whose praise is glorified, has given no indication that by His words بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ He intended one of the things called al-falaq and not another, and since Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance is glorified, was the Lord of everything that He had created, then it is necessary that by it is intended everything whose name is al-falaq, since He is the Lord of all of that.
