This, then, is the sound alternative: to seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah rather than turning for protection to the jinn.

The Exalted says, “Say, ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak.’”

“Daybreak” (al-falaq) is the dawn itself, and the Lord of daybreak is Allah, as He also says, “He is the Cleaver of the morning light” (surah al-Anʿām 6:96), meaning the One who brings the dawn’s radiance out of the night’s darkness. Who could possibly accomplish that except Allah?

“I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak” conveys: the Lord of the dawn as it breaks—its Owner, its Disposer, the One fully capable of governing it.

“From the evil of what He created” embraces the harm of every creature; one seeks Allah’s protection against the evil inherent in all created beings.

These words spare you any other formula of istiʿādhah that people might use: “And from the evil of the darkness when it descends.”

The “darkness” (al-ghāsiq) is the gloom of night, for it is in the night that beasts and predators emerge; you may find yourself in danger, so you seek Allah’s refuge from the evil of that darkness and everything harmful it contains.

“And from the evil of the blowers upon knots”—that is, the sorceresses. You seek Allah’s protection from magic and those who practice it, for sorcery is a grave evil.