Chapter: What to Say When One Alights at a Stopping-Place

982 – Khawlah bint Ḥakīm (may Allah be pleased with her) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say, “Whoever settles at a place and then says, Aʿūdhu bikalimāti Allāhi al-tāmmāt min sharri mā khalaq (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created), nothing will harm him until he departs from that place.” Related by Muslim.

983 – Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was travelling and night fell, he would say, “Yā arḍu! Rabbī wa rabbuki Allāh. Aʿūdhu billāhi min sharriki wa sharri mā fīki wa sharri mā khuliqa fīki wa sharri mā yadubbu ʿalayki. Wa aʿūdhu billāhi min sharri asadin wa aswad, wa min al-ḥayyati wal-ʿaqrab, wa min sākini l-balad, wa min wālidin wa mā walad (O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. I seek refuge with Allah from your evil, from the evil within you, from the evil created in you, and from the evil that moves upon you. I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of lion and black beast, from serpent and scorpion, from the inhabitant of the land, and from the parent and what it begets).” Reported by Abū Dāwūd.

Al-aswad here refers to a threatening figure. Al-Khattābī explained: “The phrase ‘inhabitant of the land’ refers to the jinn who dwell upon the earth. Al-balad is any tract of land that serves as a habitat for living creatures, even if it contains no buildings or houses. It is also possible that ‘the parent’ means Iblīs, and that ‘what he begets’ refers to the devils he produces.”