An-Naas 114:3

"The God of mankind,"

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

These are three attributes from the attributes of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic. They are lordship, sovereignty and divinity. Thus, He is the Lord of everything, the King of everything and the God of everything. All things are created by Him, owned by Him, and subservient to Him. Therefore, He commands whoever is seeking protection to seek refuge with the One Who has these attributes from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws. This (the whisperer) is the devil that is assigned to man. For verily, there is not any of the Children of Adam except that he has a companion that beautifies wicked deeds for him. This devil will go to any lengths to confuse and confound him. The only person who is safe is He Whom Allah protects.

It is confirmed in the Sahih that he (the Prophet ) said,

«مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا قَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ»

(There is not a single one of you except that his companion (a devil) has been assigned to him.) They (the Companions) said, "What about you, O Messenger of Allah" He replied,

«نَعَمْ، إِلَّا أَنَّ اللهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْلَمَ، فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ»

(Yes. However, Allah has helped me against him and he has accepted Islam. Thus, he only commands me to do good.) It is also confirmed in the Two Sahihs from Anas, who reported the story of Safiyyah when she came to visit the Prophet while he was performing I`tikaf, that he went out with her during the night to walk her back to her house. So, two men from the Ansar met him (on the way). When they saw the Prophet , they began walking swiftly. So, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«عَلَى رِسْلِكُمَا، إِنَّهَا صَفِيَّةُ بِنْتُ حُيَيَ»

(Slow down! This is Safiyyah bint Huyay!) They said, "Glory be to Allah, O Messenger of Allah!" He said,

«إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَجْرِي مِنِ ابْنِ آدَمَ مَجْرَى الدَّم، وَإِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَنْ يَقْذِفَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمَا شَيْئًا، أَوْ قَالَ: شَرًّا»

(Verily, Shaytan runs in the Son of Adam like the running of the blood. And verily, I feared that he might cast something into your hearts -- or he said -- evil.) Sa`id bin Jubayr reported that Ibn `Abbas said concerning Allah's statement,

الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ

(The whisperer (Al-Waswas) who withdraws.) "The devil who is squatting (perched) upon the heart of the Son of Adam. So when he becomes absentminded and heedless he whispers. Then, when he remembers Allah he withdraws." Mujahid and Qatadah also said this.

Al-Mu`tamir bin Sulayman reported that his father said, "It has been mentioned to me that Shaytan is Al-Waswas. He blows into the heart of the Son of Adam when he is sad and when he is happy. But when he (man) remembers Allah, Shaytan withdraws." Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas;

الْوَسْوَاسِ

(The whisperer.) "He is Shaytan. He whispers and then when he is obeyed, he withdraws." As for Allah's saying;

الَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ النَّاسِ

(Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.) Is this specific for the Children of Adam as is apparent, or is it general, including both mankind and Jinns

There are two views concerning this. This is because they (the Jinns) are also included in the usage of the word An-Nas (the people) in most cases.

Ibn Jarir said, "The phrase Rijalun min Al-Jinn (Men from the Jinns) has been used in reference to them, so it is not strange for the word An-Nas to be applied to them also." Then Allah says,

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ

(Of Jinn and An-Nas.) Is this explanatory of Allah's statement,

الَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ النَّاسِ

(Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.) Then, Allah explains this by saying,

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ

(Of Jinn and An-Nas.) This is supportive of the second view. It has also been said that Allah's saying,

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ

(Of Jinn and An-Nas) is an explanation of who is it that whispers into the breasts of mankind from the devils of mankind and Jinns. This is similar to Allah's saying,

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نِبِىٍّ عَدُوّاً شَيَـطِينَ الإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً

o(And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies -- Shayatin among mankind and Jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion.) (6:112) Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "A man came to the Prophet and said, `O Messenger of Allah! Sometimes I say things to myself that I would rather fall from the sky than say (aloud openly). ' The Prophet said,

«اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرٌ الْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي رَدَّ كَيْدَهُ إِلَى الْوَسْوَسَةِ»

(Allah is Most Great! Allah is Most Great! All praise is due to Allah Who sent his (Shaytan's) plot back as only a whisper.)" Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded this Hadith.

Арабский глагол «фалака» («раскалывать») подчеркивает то, что именно Всевышний Господь рассекает ночной мрак, когда наступает рассвет, а также рассекает семена, когда они прорастают. Только Он может защитить Своих рабов от зла людей, бесов, животных и всех остальных творений. Всевышний подчеркнул, что некоторые творения приносят много зла. Ночью людей обуревает дремота, а по земле бродят злые духи и вредные твари. Колдуньи дуют на узлы для того, чтобы навести на людей порчу. А завистники желают, чтобы люди лишились благ, и даже прикладывают для этого усилия. Защитить людей от зла нечестивцев и разрушить их козни может только Аллах, и поэтому каждый человек обязан прибегать к Его защите. К завистникам также относятся люди с дурным глазом, потому что сглазить может только завистливый человек со скверной натурой и порочной душой. Таким образом, эта сура учит мусульман искать у Аллаха убежища и спасения от зла в целом и некоторых его проявлений в частности. Она также служит доказательством того, что колдовство действительно имеет место и что его вреда следует опасаться, прибегая к защите Аллаха от козней колдуний и колдунов.

Verses [ 114:2 3] مَلِكِ النَّاسِ إِلَـٰهِ النَّاسِ (the King of mankind, the God of mankind.) The reason for adding these two attributes is that the word rabb, attributed to a particular thing, could refer to someone other than Allah also, as for instance rabb-ud-dar [ land-lord ] or رَبُّ المال rabb-ul-mal [ owner of wealth ]. But not every master or owner is a king. That is why the attributive name malik [ King ] has been added to indicate that He is not only the 'Lord of mankind' but also the 'King of mankind'. Furthermore, not every king is worthy of worship. Thus the third attributive name ilah [ God ] has been added to nas [ people ]. The Divine wisdom in combining all three Divine attributes is that each attribute motivates protection. Every master has servants and takes care of them. Likewise, every king has subjects and looks after them. That the worshipped God protects His worshipper is even more obvious. Only Allah, and no other being, is characterized by these three attributes simultaneously. Therefore, seeking Allah's protection by invoking these attributes is the greatest protection, and the invocation is readily acceptable.

Since the first sentence contains the word nas (people), the second and the third verses should apparently refer to them with the pronouns by saying, مَلِکِھِم malikihim [ their king ] rather than repeating the word nas (people). However, this is an occasion of supplication and praise, and as such repetition needs to be employed by deliberate design to add force and clarity to the sublime emotion by creating natural rhyme, rhythm and melodic sequence. Some scholars have explained the repetition of the word 'nas' differently. They say that the word nas occurs five times in this Surah. In its first occurrence, it refers to the children. The word rabb that refers to nurturer-ship of Allah is a hint to this, because children need nurturing the most. Its second occurrence refers to youth, and the hint in the context is the word malik which refers to kingship of Allah. It bears political connotation and is appropriate to the youth. Its third occurrence refers to old age. Old people cut themselves off from the world and look up to Allah alone as the real support of life, and render Him alone true and unconditional obedience and to make Him alone the real object of his love and adoration. The context for this is ilah [ God ] which points to the Divine worship. Its fourth occurrence refers to the righteous servants of Allah. The contextual hint for this is the word waswasah [ evil whisperings ] because the devil is the enemy of the righteous servants of Allah. His work is to cast evil prompting into the hearts of such people. Its fifth occurrence refers to mischief-makers because protection is sought from their mischief.

Other English translations

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Which was revealed in Makkah