His words in this hadith, “In the name of Allah,” mean: “In the name of Allah, I seek refuge.” Whenever someone says, “In the name of Allah,” he mentally supplies a verb suited to what he is doing. Thus, one who is eating supplies “I eat”—meaning, “In the name of Allah, I eat”; one who is slaughtering supplies “I slaughter”; one who is writing supplies “I write”; and so forth.

His words, “With whose name nothing on earth or in heaven can cause harm,” mean that whoever seeks refuge in the name of Allah will not be harmed by any calamity originating from earth or heaven.

His words, “And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing,” mean that He hears the words of His servants and knows their deeds; nothing whatsoever on earth or in heaven is hidden from Him.

It is authentically reported in Sahih Muslim from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: “A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! How I suffered from a scorpion that stung me last night!’ He replied, ‘If only, when evening came, you had said, “I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created,” it would not have harmed you.’”1

In a narration reported by al-Tirmidhī: “Whoever says three times in the evening, ‘I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created,’ will not be harmed by a venomous bite or sting that night.”2

A humah is the bite or sting of any venomous creature, such as a scorpion or the like.

After the hadith, al-Tirmidhī related that Suhayl ibn Abī Salih—one of its narrators—said: “Our family had learned these words and used to recite them every night. Then a girl from among them was stung, but she felt no pain.”

The hadith therefore demonstrates the merit of this supplication and shows that whoever recites it in the evening will, by Allah’s leave, be protected from harm caused by the bite or sting of a snake, scorpion, or similar creature.