the devils among humans and jinn, the evil of beasts of prey and creeping creatures, the evil of fire and air, and other things.

In the Sahīh, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said: “Whoever stops at a place and says, ‘I seek refuge in Allah’s perfect words from the evil of what He has created,’ nothing will harm him until he leaves that place.” Reported by Muslim.

Abū Dāwūd reported in his Sunan that ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Umar said: “When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was travelling and night approached, he would say: ‘O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. I seek refuge in Allah from your evil, the evil of what is within you, the evil of what has been created within you, and the evil of what moves upon you. I seek refuge in Allah from lions and black snakes, from snakes and scorpions, from the inhabitant of the land, and from a parent and its offspring.’”

Another hadith states: “I seek refuge in Allah’s perfect words, which neither the righteous nor the wicked can overstep, from the evil of what He has created, brought forth, and brought into being; from the evil of what descends from heaven and what ascends into it; from the evil of what He has brought forth upon the earth and what emerges from it; from the evil of the trials of night and day; and from the evil of every night visitor, except a visitor who brings good, O Most Merciful.”

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The second evil is “the darkness when it settles.” This singles out something specific after a general statement. Most Quran commentators have said that it means night.

Ibn ‘Abbās said: “Night, when it approaches with its darkness from the east, spreading into everything and bringing darkness.” Ghasaq means darkness. One says ghasaqa al-layl or aghsaqa when night becomes dark.

This is the meaning in His words, Most High:

17: 78 “Establish prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night.”

Likewise, al-Hasan and Mujāhid said that “the darkness when it settles” means night when it approaches and sets in.

Wuqūb means entry: here, the onset of night when the sun sets. Muqātil said: “It means the darkness of night when its blackness enters the daylight.”

Another explanation for calling night ghāsiq is that the word refers to cold, since night is colder than day, and ghasaq means cold. This was the basis on which Ibn ‘Abbās interpreted His words, Most High:

38: 57 “Let them taste it: scalding water and bitter cold.”

And His words:

78: 24, 25 “There they will taste neither coolness nor