الناس

Insights fromSūrah al-Nās

[Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of humankind, the Master of humankind, the God of humankind, from the evil of the lurking whisperer—who whispers into the hearts of humankind—from among jinn and humankind.”] (114:1–6)

Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, opens Sūrah al-Nās— the final sūrah of the Qur’an in the arrangement of the muṣḥaf— with the command to seek refuge, just as He opened the preceding Sūrat al-Falaq. Thus Allah, Exalted is He, says:

﴿قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ﴾

[Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind.]

Meaning: say—I seek refuge, I hold fast, and I take shelter with the Lord of mankind.

Then Allah, Exalted is He, joins to His Lordship the perfection of His Sovereignty, saying:

﴿مَلِكِ النَّاسِ﴾

[The Sovereign of mankind.]

Meaning: the absolute Ruler and Disposer of all their affairs.

Then Allah, Mighty and Majestic, joins to the perfection of His Sovereignty over mankind that He alone is their true object of worship—there is no deity for them besides Him. Thus Allah says:

﴿إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ﴾

[The God of mankind.]

Meaning: the One worshipped by mankind—He alone deserves worship, with no partner. There is no deity worthy of worship besides Him, Mighty and Exalted is He.

Allah, Exalted is He, thus begins Sūrat al-Nās with seeking refuge:

﴿قُلْ أَعُوذُ﴾

[Say: I seek refuge.]

Which means to seek protection, shelter, and safety. Al-taʿawwudh (seeking refuge) is to flee to Allah, to seek His protection, and to cling firmly to Him.

Allah, Exalted is He, specifically mentions here the category of mankind in connection with His Lordship—despite the fact that He is the Lord of all things. He singles out mankind by saying:

﴿بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ﴾

[In the Lord of mankind.]

This serves to manifest His special care—Glorious and Exalted is He—for mankind, and to affirm that they are all addressed by this Qur’an. For them He revealed the scriptures, to them He sent the messengers, and He concluded them with our Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ.

By addressing them through His Lordship—

﴿رَبِّ النَّاسِ﴾

[The Lord of mankind]

He establishes, teaches, and nurtures them upon the reality that He alone is their Lord—there is no Lord for them besides Him, Exalted in His Loftiness. Thus, they must abandon every false object of lordship besides Him, Mighty and Majestic.

Consequently, all of mankind are equal under His Lordship. There is no human being who is lorded over by anyone other than Allah, Exalted is He. This negates the sanctification or deification of any human being through servitude or worship.

Then Allah, Exalted is He, further affirms His Lordship by declaring that He alone is their sole and absolute Owner. Thus He says:

﴿مَلِكِ النَّاسِ﴾

[The Sovereign of mankind.]

Meaning: your Lord is the Owner of all mankind—indicating their complete equality in being owned by their Lord, and their complete equality in being His servants.

Although everything besides mankind is also owned by Allah, Exalted is He, He specifically singles out the human race as a warning to them—so that they do not turn to any of creation besides Him with worship, fear, or hope. For the one who is owned turns only to his owner, obeys only his commands, refrains at his prohibitions, and submits to him without disobedience.

This is a clarification of what necessarily follows from Lordship (rubūbiyyah) and Sovereignty (mulk), so that what is required of mankind thereafter may be established. Thus Allah, Exalted is He, says:

﴿إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ﴾

[The God of mankind.]

Meaning: He is your deity, O mankind. Allah—Glorified and Exalted—is He—restricts and confines divinity (ulūhiyyah) to Himself alone, so that what follows from this becomes binding: that worship must be directed exclusively to their true God and Lord, besides whom there is no deity worthy of worship. This necessarily indicates and affirms that whoever directs any act of worship to other than Allah—their Lord, Owner, and God—has indeed committed disbelief, and has deviated from what is obligatory upon him toward his Owner, his Lord, and his God.

Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, guides His servants by clarifying that this seeking of refuge concerns the evil they encounter from whisperings. Thus Allah says:

﴿مِنْ شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ﴾

[From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.]

Meaning: seek refuge—O Messenger ﷺ, and your ummah follows you in this—from:

﴿مِنْ شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ﴾

[from the evil of the whisperer], meaning: from the evil of Shayṭān,

﴿الْخَنَّاسِ﴾

[the one who withdraws]

who advances with whispering at one time and retreats at another. Al-khunūs means retreating through concealment and cessation.

It is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) that he said: there is no newborn except that the whisperer is upon his heart; when he reaches understanding and remembers Allah, it withdraws, and when he becomes heedless, it whispers. He said: this is the meaning of Allah’s statement:

﴿الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ﴾

[the whisperer who withdraws]^[1]

Allah, Exalted is He, described what the whisperer brings as “Shar” (evil). Because it whispers nothing except that which casts a person into evil, or fills him with fear and dread. It never guides to any good whatsoever; rather, it only whispers what brings harm and corruption. This necessitates frequent seeking of refuge from it, and abundant remembrance of Allah, Exalted is He—by which the whisperer withdraws. Likewise, seeking refuge from it through recitation of this blessed sūrah.

Then Allah, Glorious and Exalted, clarifies the location where whispering occurs within the human being. Thus He says:

﴿الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ﴾

[Who whispers into the breasts of mankind.]

Meaning: its acts of whispering evil take place within the chests of mankind. The noble verse generalizes the scope of whispering to include the breasts of all people, without exception.

And the chest is the place where whispering occurs. The means by which al-waswās al-khannās seeks to tempt and mislead. This indicates and affirms that it is obligatory upon you, O mankind, to beware of and protect yourselves from the evil of what this whisperer whispers into your hearts. Never respond to it, ever. Rather, your escape and protection lie in seeking refuge with Allah, Exalted is He, and in frequent remembrance of Him—for the whisperer withdraws and disappears when Allah is remembered. And al-khunūs means retreating through concealment and cessation.

Then Allah, Exalted is He, informs of the source of the whisperer who whispers evil into the breasts of mankind. Thus Allah, Exalted is He, says:

﴿مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ﴾

[From among the jinn and mankind.]

Meaning: the source of this evil whispering arises from the jinn—that is, from the world of the jinn, which is hidden from the human race.

And likewise, whispering of evil occurs from human beings among themselves. Allah, Exalted is He, conjoined mankind with the jinn, saying:

﴿مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ﴾

[From among the jinn and mankind.]

Because humans also instigate whisperings through embellished speech, deception, doubt-casting, and words that carry harm for a person—words that implant whisperings which bring anxiety, confusion, and decisions that ultimately lead to harm, in any field or circumstance of human life.

Ibn al-Jawzī (RA) mentioned the statement of al-Zajjāj (RA), who said regarding the meaning of:

﴿مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ﴾

[From among the jinn and mankind.]

It is as though one is commanded to seek refuge from both the jinn and mankind. This is the statement of al-Zajjāj. ^[2]

Al-Saʿdī (RA) said: whispering occurs from humans just as it occurs from jinn.^[3]

Thus, the evil of human whispering and its effect is like the evil of the whispering of the jinn—except that the jinn whisper directly into the chest, while humans deliver their whisperings to the chest through their embellished speech, which reaches the heart through hearing.

For this reason, it is obligatory to seek refuge in Allah, Exalted is He, from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.

From the mercy of Allah, Exalted is He, toward His servants is that He has warned them and taught them the beneficial means that repel the evil of this whisperer who withdraws. He clarified for them the location of its harm—that it resides in the breasts of mankind—and that within the Muʿawwidhāt there is protection and healing.

Thus, we praise Allah, Exalted is He, for this, and for the blessing of the Noble Qur’an—which is guidance to the paths of peace, protection and salvation from all the evils of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter, and the means that leads safely to Paradise.

O Allah, make the Qur’an the spring of our hearts, the light of our chests, the remover of our sorrows, and the dispeller of our worries and griefs. Make us among the people of the Qur’an, those who uphold it in the best manner. Grant us a good end—by Your grace, Your bounty, and Your mercy—O Most Merciful of the merciful, O Lord of the worlds.

I praise Allah, Exalted is He, and thank Him for the blessing He bestowed upon me by granting me the honor of this work, and for enabling me to complete Sūrah al-Nās.

Our Lord, accept from us—indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. And accept our repentance—indeed, You are the Ever-Accepting of repentance, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muḥammad and upon all his family.

Footnote:

[1] Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān (24/754)

[2] Ibn al-Jawzī, Zād al-Masīr fī ʿIlm al-Tafsīr (8/314)

[3] Al-Saʿdī, Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr Kalām al-Mannān (5/475)