fetuses, and darkness to bring forth the dawn. The morning breaking through the darkness is called falaq or faraq (daybreak). One says, “It is whiter than the faraq or falaq of dawn.”
Just as His creation involves splitting and separation, so His command is wholly a criterion distinguishing truth from falsehood. He dispels the darkness of falsehood with truth, just as He dispels the darkness of night with daybreak. Thus He called His Book “the Criterion,” and His granting of victory a criterion, because it distinguishes His allies from His enemies. Another instance is His splitting the sea for Moses, which He called falaq (a splitting).
The wisdom of seeking refuge in the Lord of daybreak in these instances thus becomes clear. This also reveals the Quran’s inimitability, greatness and majesty; that Allah’s servants do not appreciate its true worth; and that it is “a revelation from One who is All-Wise, Praiseworthy.”
Section
The third evil: the evil of those who blow on knots.
This is the evil of sorcery. Those who blow on knots are sorceresses who tie knots in threads and blow upon each knot until the sorcery they intend takes effect. Nafth is blowing with saliva. It is less than spitting, occupying an intermediate position between blowing and spitting.
Nafth is the sorcerer’s act. When his soul becomes imbued with the wickedness and evil he intends for the victim, and he enlists the help of wicked spirits against that person, he blows upon those knots with a breath accompanied by saliva. From his wicked soul there issues a breath mingled with evil and harm, accompanied by saliva mixed with it. He and the satanic spirit have joined forces to harm the victim. Sorcery then takes effect upon that person by Allah’s permission in His universal decree, not by His permission in His revealed commands and law.
If it is asked, “Sorcery is practised by both males and females, so why is seeking refuge restricted here to females rather than males?”
One answer given is that the wording reflects the particular incident that occasioned it, namely that the daughters of Labīd