Beams of Illumination From the Divine Revelation (juz' 'amma - the Last Section of the Qur'an)

Sura 11 : Surat an Nas Mankind

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Most Merciful

The final part of the Qur'an is concerned with taking refuge, while the beginning of the Qur'an is concerned with the recognition that the only path to success is that of glorification, supplication and praise.

The arrangement of the surahs in the Qur'an is a perfect one which was made by the perfect man, the Prophet Muhammad, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam. The very fact that he arranged them pro­vides the proof of the Qur'an's unity and completion. The revelation brought to mankind different aspects of the Tablet, or Book of Real­ity, on different days, in different months, and under different condi­tions. These diverse aspects, however, all reflected the one and only Light, and only the Prophet, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, knew how they were to be arranged in accordance with the only model which exists. Thus the last two steps of the revelation from Allah urge man to seek refuge in Allah, the Lord and Sustainer of all His creation.

1 Say: I take refuge in the Lord of mankind,

Nasmeans "people, mankind." Its root word anisa is similar to the word nasiya, which means "to forget," denoting one aspect of man's nature. The attribute of forgetfulness can, however, be used to full advantage when we forget what is of no use to us. Thus we are better able to remember what is of priority to us. In this way we will not forget that at any moment we may die.

2 The King of mankind,

3 The God of mankind,

We take refuge in the Lord, in the Creator of this entity called "man," who contains within himself both the higher attributes and the lower attributes. We take refuge in Allah from the lower attributes, from the attributes which cause us loss, which cause us further forget­fulness.

4 From the evil whisperings of the elusive shaytan,

There is a great deal written about the word waswas which are subtle whisperings in one's innermost that incite one to evil. In one reference ten meanings are given for al-waswasah, denoting ten different attributes of the whisperer. If we overcome them we will un­derstand the shirk of waswas, and we will be able to truly take refuge from it.

Waswas is an onomatopoeic word imitative of the sound of whis­pering. Whispering is one of the actions which, in our din and in our adab, is very much repudiated, because something worth saying should be shared by saying it out loud.

Khannas is an epithet of shaytan, and means "slink­ing away," specifically, when the Name of Allah is mentioned.

There are sources or rivers which feed the waswas. just as the Garden has underground rivers which feed it, so too has the waswas. One of these rivers is hirs (greed or covetousness). That river can be fought, blocked, and dammed by tawakkul wa qana (trustful dependence (on Allah) and con­tentment).

Another river is amal, which means "expectation." This river, too, can be dammed by constant remembrance, dhikr. Our hope for things of this world can be stopped by remembering that each breath may be our last. This remembrance will cut the flow of that river which feeds the whisperer who pours distracting suggestions into our ears.

The third river is shahawat ad-dunya or "worldly desires." These desires can be killed by remembering that the ni’am (favors, bounties) will all eventually leave us, and that the hisab (account) will have to be made by us. We will have to account for the way in which we spent the bounty and goodness that was given to us. It will be a lengthy account - we are told 50 thousand years- in which every minute detail will be reviewed and examined, and in which even something as seemingly minor as a twitch can be a witness for or against us.

The fourth river, or source, of waswas is tahsil, meaning "acquisition." This river can be stopped by seeing the justice of each person's situation. What a person reaps arises from the justice of his own situation, and we cannot alter it.

The fifth river is bala', "affliction." The flow of this can be stemmed by not looking at the affliction in a situation, but rather by seeing the bestowal of the good in it.

The sixth river is kibr, or "pride," which can be fought by humility. Whenever kibr rises up in us, we should immedi­ately call upon the humility within ourselves, so that we break its ef­fect on us.

The seventh river is tahqir, that which entices us to belittle the honorable position of the believers, as well as anything that the believer possesses, anything that is in his domain, and that which is halal (permitted) for him and haram (forbidden) for others. This river can be stopped by considering their honor to be great and by respecting it.

The eighth source of waswas is the love of dunya (this world), in­cluding the desire to be acknowledged and admired by others. This love and desire can be undone by bringing oneself to the state of abasement.

The ninth source of waswas which encourages shaytan is separation and stinginess (bukhl). This can be fought by generosity. Sakha' means "giving according to what the occasion demands;" jud means "giving without being asked;" and karam is "giving whatever has been asked." These three are attri­butes of Allah. The fourth is ithar, "giving what one needs oneself," and this is an attribute which only man can have. Allah cannot have this attribute, for Allah has no need whatsoever of anything. Thus, we can take on this final attribute, which is a great aid for our inner, upward mobility toward that noble state which be­fits the khalifah, or viceregent, of Allah.

5 Who whispers in the innermost hearts of mankind,

Sadr (plural of sudur) is the "chest or breast," that part of one which faces what confronts one. It is where the battles and dramas take place. It must be remembered that every drama is self-created. Every imaginable human role stirs in the breast of man: the king, the despot, the afflicted, the jealous, the strong, the doubter, and the complainer. We have to take refuge from these, take refuge in the Lord Whose mercy brings us to the recognition that everything which occurs, visible and invisible, occurs according to a just system, according to perfect laws which govern this passage, this journey through the creation. The laws in this existence are self ­enforced; there is no need for wardens.

6 From jinn and mankind.

Jinnah is synonymous with jinn, and means "the unseen, hidden forces of power." Jannah (the Garden) is derived from the same root and it refers to the most desir­able place to be, a garden, which, in the desert culture of the Arabs of that time where the average temperature was 100 degrees, was a place where there was shade, and where the ground could not be seen for the thick foliage of the trees. The ground was "hidden" by the growth and thus it refers to a hidden state. The jinn are also hidden, and they have their limitations and their states, just as men do.

Therefore, we are asking for refuge, for protection from any energies whose nature we do not understand, and whose creation is not visible or discernable by us.