![]() Its second occurrence refers to youth, and the hint in the context is the word malik which refers to kingship of Allah. The word rabb that refers to nurturer-ship of Allah is a hint to this, because children need nurturing the most. In its first occurrence, it refers to the children. They say that the word nas occurs five times in this Surah. Some scholars have explained the repetition of the word ‘nas’ differently. 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. 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 rather than repeating the word nas (people). Therefore, seeking Allah’s protection by invoking these attributes is the greatest protection, and the invocation is readily acceptable. Only Allah, and no other being, is characterized by these three attributes simultaneously. ![]() That the worshipped God protects His worshipper is even more obvious. Likewise, every king has subjects and looks after them. The Divine wisdom in combining all three Divine attributes is that each attribute motivates protection.Įvery master has servants and takes care of them. Thus the third attributive name ilah has been added to nas. Furthermore, not every king is worthy of worship. That is why the attributive name malik has been added to indicate that He is not only the ‘Lord of mankind’ but also the ‘King 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 or رَبُّ المال rabb-ul-mal. As the anguish and distress of the Hereafter is most severe, the Qur’an appropriately emphasizes at the end to seek Allah’s protection against these evil powers. In the present Surah, we are to seek refuge from the evil that is the cause of all sins, namely, the whisperings and insinuations of Shaitan. It was explained in Surah Al-Falaq that the word sharr could stand for ‘evil’ or ‘harm’ or even ‘that which causes harm, anguish or distress’. This Surah, the second of the Mu’awwadhatain, constitutes an extension of its predecessor and is in a way complementary to it, in that in Surah Al-Falaq the believers were enjoined to seek refuge with Allah against the hardships and privations of life in this world, while in the current Surah protection is sought from the trials and tribulations of the Hereafter.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |