قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ
SAY: "I seek refuge with the Sustainer of men, (1)
مَلِكِ النَّاسِ
"the Sovereign of men, (2)
إِلَٰهِ النَّاسِ
"the God of men, (3)
مِنْ شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ
"from the evil of the whispering, elusive tempter (4)
الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ
who whispers in the hearts of men (5)
مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ
"from all [temptation to evil by] invisible forces as well as men," (6)
- - "from all [temptation to evil by] invisible forces as well as men."2
- 2 The above is perhaps the oldest Qur'anic mention of the term and concept of al-jinnah (synonymous with al-jinn), which has been tentatively explained in Appendix III. In the above context, the term probably denotes the intangible, mysterious forces of nature to which man's psyche is exposed, and which sometimes make it difficult for us to discern between right and wrong, However, in the light of this last verse of the last surah of the Qur'an it is also possible to conclude that the "invisible forces" from which we are told to seek refuge with God are the temptations to evil emanating from the blindness of our own hearts, from our gross appetites, and from the erroneous notions and false values that may have been handed down to us by our predecessors.
- Among Jinns and among Men.6310
- 6310 This last clause amplifies the description of the sources from which the whisper of evil may emanate: they may be men whom you may see or invisible spirits of evil working within. See last note. So long as we put ourselves in Allah's protection, and trust in Allah, evil cannot really touch us in our essential and inner life.
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Among Jinns and among men.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Of the jinn and of mankind.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
From among the jinn and the men.
— M. Habib Shakir -
"Of jinns and men."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Whether of Jinn or of mankind.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
both jinn and people.'
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
of jinn and men.
— Ayub Khan -
From among jinn and men.'
— Sher Ali -
"from all [temptation to evil by] invisible forces as well as men,"
— Muhammad Asad -
of jinn and men.
— Arthur Arberry -
whether he be from the jinn or humans."{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi