Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Falaq · 113:3
And from the evil of darkness when it settles
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.
As for His statement: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — He says: and from the evil of the darkness when it intrudes and overwhelms us with its darkness.
Then the exegetes differed concerning the darkness intended in this verse, and against which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded that refuge be sought. Some said: it is the night when it grows dark.
*Mention of who said that:*
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: the night.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, he said: ʿAwf reported to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: the beginning of the night when it grows dark.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb reported to us, he said: Abū Ṣakhr related to us, on the authority of al-Qaraẓī, that he used to say concerning غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ : the day when it enters into the night.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man from Medina, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: it is the setting of the sun when the night comes on, when it sets in.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: غَاسِقٍ — he said: the night; إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: when it enters in.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: the night when it arrives.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: when it comes.
ʿAlī related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: إِذَا وَقَبَ — he says: when it arrives. Some said: it is the day when it enters into the night; this we have already mentioned earlier.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man from Medina, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qaraẓī: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: it is the setting of the sun when the night comes on, when it sets in.
Others said: it is a star. And some of them said that this star is the Pleiades (al-Thurayā).
*Mention of who said that:*
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Sulaymān ibn Ḥibbān reported to us, on the authority of Abū al-Muhazzim, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, concerning His statement: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: a star.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb reported to us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: the Arabs used to say: al-ghāsiq is the setting of the Pleiades; diseases and pestilences increased at its setting and decreased at its rising.
The adherents of this opinion have a basis in a ḥadīth from the Prophet ﷺ, namely what Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: Bakkār ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Akh Hammām related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, concerning: وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: "the setting star."
Others said: al-ghāsiq when it sets in is the moon, and they relate this through a report from the Prophet ﷺ.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us; and Ibn Sufyān related to us, he said: my father and Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, with it.
And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Dhiʾb, on the authority of his uncle al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: the Prophet ﷺ took me by the hand, then he looked at the moon and said: "O ʿĀʾisha, seek refuge with Allah from the evil of a ghāsiq when it sets in, and this is a ghāsiq when it sets in." These are the wordings of the narration of Abū Kurayb and Ibn Wakīʿ. As for Ibn Ḥumayd, in his narration it states: she said: the Prophet ﷺ took me by the hand and said: "Do you know what this is? Seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this; for this is al-ghāsiq when it sets in."
Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he looked at the moon and said: "O ʿĀʾisha, seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this, for this is al-ghāsiq when it sets in."
The strongest opinion in this matter, in my judgment, is to say: Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to seek refuge وَمِنْ شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ — and that is the thing that darkens. One says: the night has grown dark (ghasiqa al-layl yaghsiqu ghusūqan) when it becomes dark; إِذَا وَقَبَ — that is to say: when it enters into its darkness. The night when it enters into its darkness is a ghāsiq; a star when it sets is a ghāsiq; and the moon is a ghāsiq when it sets in. He did not specify a particular kind, but the command encompasses everything, so that for every ghāsiq the Prophet ﷺ was commanded to seek refuge from its evil when it sets in. It was said concerning the meaning of waqaba: it went away.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ — he said: when it goes away. However, I do not know what Qatāda meant by that in Arabic usage, for the well-known meaning of waqaba in Arabic is: to enter in.
