سورة الفَلَق
Surah Al-Falaq 113:4
The Daybreak · Verse 4 of 5
وَمِنْ شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
Abdul Mannan Omar
`And from the evil of those who try (and whisper evil suggestions) to deter (people) from doing their duty,
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
From the mischief of those who practise secret arts;
Ahmed Ali
From the evil of sorceresses who blow incantations on knots,
12 more translations
Ali Unal
"And from the evil of the witches who blow on knots (to cast a spell),
Daryabadi
And from the evil of the women blowers upon knots,
Faridul Haque
“And from the evil of the witches who blow into knots.”
Maulana Muhammad Ali
And from the evil of those who cast (evil suggestions) in firm resolutions,
Maulvi Sher Ali
And from the evil of those who blow upon the knots of mutual relationships to undo them,
Muhammad Asad
"and from the evil of all human beings bent on occult endeavours,
Muhammad Musin Khan
And from the evil of the witchcrafts when they blow in the knots,
Muhammad Pickthall
And from the evil of malignant witchcraft,
Muhammad Sarwar
from the evil of those who practice witchcraft
Muhammed ali Shakir
And from the evil of those who blow on knots,
Rashad Khalifa
From the evils of the troublemakers.
Shabbir Ahmed
And from the covert activities of people who try to put knots and complicate the simple.
Commentary 113:4Naffâthât fi al-‘Uqadالنَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِmeans those who whisper evil suggestions into knots of threads as do those who cast evil spells; those…
وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ
113:4Naffâthât fi al-‘Uqadالنَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِmeans those who whisper evil suggestions into knots of threads as do those who cast evil spells; those who enter into secret contracts to break down friendships. Naffâthâtالنَّفَّاثَاتِ is derived from anfus; that is a singular of nafs - a feminine noun, and literally means, those (not necessarily females) who blow upon knots of threads. This is an idiomatic phrase employed in classical Arabic to designate all supposedly occult endeavours (Râzi; Zamakhsharî).
At all times and ages and in all cultures we come across people who profess to possess magical or supernatural powers and people who garb themselves in the robe of piety or self-proclaimed “saints.” Some of them cause harm to society. Some devise ways and means to make their fellow beings succumb to difficulties through hidden and harmful planning and conspiracies. Others hoard riches by propagating their “saintliness” and “holiness.” Their visitors express their intense wishes before them and expect their wish to be fulfilled in return for some material reward. Often such wishes are vicious, such as to bring about death to an enemy or afflict him with disease. Now this “holy man” will set to work to prove his powers by performing some ceremonies,which may include a kind of “knot of thread” that he will blow over. He will apply all his tricks to convince the people about his claims and spare no efforts to assure others that he is a competent “saint.” We are enjoined to seek refuge with Allâh from such practices, despite their palpable irrationality.