Ayah 1:
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبّ الْفَلَقِ
Qul aAAoodhu birabbi alfalaq
Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak,
'Aadha - by itself means to cling onto someone for protection, out of fear of something which is
unseen. Dangers that are unseen.
Ijaarah - getting protection against an enemy which you can see.
Isti'aadha is against: Sorcery, shaytan (devil), the evil eye etc.
A'oodhu billah. - Clinging on someone without letting them go, seeking their help.
Ma'aadh (ism darf makaan) - a place where you seek refuge.
A'oodhu - I am submitting myself and entering into the refuge.
Isti'aadh (istif'aal) - seeking refuge.
Falaq -
Fal-laqa - to rip open something and something comes out of it. I.e. to Tear open a cushion and the fluff comes out. The rays of the morning tears through darkness. I.e. Daybreak. Cracks of Sunlight breaks through the darkness. A seed slowly rips open and the plant comes out = falaq.
Faaliq ul habbi wa nawwa (the One who tears open the seed, and a date plant grows out of it)
Faaliq ul isbaah (the One who tears and causes the morning).
Falaq will tie this subject to the previous surah.
Falaq includes the meaning of Khalq - that which is Created. Because everything which has been created comes out of something that has been torn.
Examples of this;
- What comes out of something else, i.e. Water springs out of mountains.
- Water tears out from the clouds.
- Plants tear through the Earth and come out of it
- Children from the wombs of their mothers.
Some contemporary scholars made The Big Bang theory part of this too. Saying that this Universe came from an origin point, forming this universe and expanding.
So Falaq is similar to 'Created' in meaning - because all life comes into existence through tearing out through something else.
Falaq = The morning Daybreak when the sun just cracks through the night, everything which forms through tearing of creation (including humans, plants, animals, bacteria [amoeba], the sky [day/night] etc.). All these are included.
Allah is signifying that He is the Master of birth, of life. Because this tearing open signifies; the birth of the day from the night, the birth of rain tearing from the clouds which gives life to the dead earth, providing life food for all living beings - who give birth to children..etc.
Lam yaLid wa lam yuLad - He was not born, nor does He give birth to. (surah ikhlas).
He owns the Creation, He is not part of the creation.
as-Samad - someone who everyone is in need of, and He is not in need of them.
Samada ilayhi - when you turn to someone in desperation - in full need of them.
This surah is about being placed in psychological and social difficulty.
- Night is a time of Fear.
- Jealousy is a feeling where someone can potentially harm you.
- Magic - someone is putting you under difficulty internally, as well as other external factors.
