It is Meccan, and it is said to be Medinan, and its verses are 6 [revealed after Al-Falaq]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

It is recited: Say, I seek refuge, by omitting the hamzah and transferring its movement to the lam, and similar to it. So take four. If you say: Why was His name specifically added to them, while He is the Lord of all things? ... etc. Ahmad said: In the specification, he followed the custom of appealing, for it is more complete with him. He returned to his words and said: 'Lord of mankind' is an apposition to 'King of mankind.' Or both are appositions to the first, and the second is clearer: because 'King of mankind' may be attributed to others besides Allah, while 'God of mankind' is not attributed except to Him, the Exalted. Thus, it is made a limit for the explanation, and the essence of the explanation is made clear by a repeated expression that is not implicit. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows best. This is what Allah has made easy to say. And I declare my innocence to Allah from strength and power, and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

Why is 'Lord of mankind' specifically added to them? I say: Because the seeking refuge is from the evil of the whisperer in the hearts of mankind. It is as if it is said, I seek refuge from the evil of the whisperer to mankind by their Lord who has authority over their affairs, and He is their God and object of worship, just as some servants seek help from their master when they are faced with a calamity.

If you say: What are 'King of mankind' and 'God of mankind' in relation to 'Lord of mankind'? I say: They are appositions, like saying: The biography of Abu Hafs Umar Al-Faruq. It is clarified by 'King of mankind,' and then further clarified by 'God of mankind,' because it may be said of others: 'Lord of mankind,' as in His saying: 'They took their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah.' And it may be said: 'King of mankind.' However, 'God of mankind' is specific and has no partnership in it, thus it is made a limit for the explanation. If you say: Why not suffice with mentioning the one to whom it is added, which is 'mankind,' once? I say: Because the apposition is for clarification, so it was more likely to be explicit rather than implicit.

'Whisperer' is a name meaning the act of whispering, like 'earthquake' meaning the act of shaking. And as for the source, it is 'whispering' with a kasrah like 'earthquake.' It refers to the devil, named by the source as if it is a whispering within himself, for it is his craft and occupation which he is devoted to. Or it is meant 'the one with whispers.' And 'whispering' is the quiet sound. From it: the whispering of jewelry.

'The sneaky one' is one whose habit is to retreat, attributed to 'sneaking,' which is to withdraw like 'crookedness' and 'permanence.' It was narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubair: When a person remembers his Lord, the devil retreats and departs; when he is heedless, he whispers to him. 'The one who whispers' can have three grammatical cases: the genitive as an adjective, and the nominative and accusative as an insult. It is good for the reader to pause at 'the sneaky one' and begin with 'the one who whispers' on one of these two aspects.

'From among the jinn and mankind' clarifies who whispers, noting that the devil has two types: jinn and human, as he said: 'the devils of mankind and jinn.' And from Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, he said to a man: Have you sought refuge in Allah from the devil of mankind? It may also be that 'from' is related to 'whispers,' and its meaning is: the beginning of the limit, meaning: he whispers in their hearts from the side of the jinn and from the side of mankind. It is said: from the jinn and mankind is a clarification for mankind, and that the name 'mankind' applies to the jinn. They supported this with the verse: 'A group and men' in Surah Al-Jinn. And what is more appropriate, because the jinn are named 'jinn' due to their concealment, and mankind is named 'mankind' due to their visibility, from 'to see,' as they are also called 'humans.' If it were the case that 'mankind' applied to both groups, and this were correct and established, it would not be suitable for the eloquence of the Quran and its distance from artifice. It is better that 'mankind' refers to the forgetful ones, as in His saying: 'The day the caller calls,' as it is recited: 'from where the people overflowed.' Then it clarifies with 'the jinn and mankind,' because the two heavy ones are the two types described as forgetting the right of Allah, the Exalted.

From the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "Two surahs have been revealed to me that have not been revealed like them. You will not recite two surahs that are more beloved or pleasing to Allah than them." [[I did not find it in this wording. The beginning of it is in Muslim in meaning from the hadith of 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: 'Did you not see the verses revealed this night? You have never seen their like: Say, 'I seek refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak,' and say, 'I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.'" The end of it is in Ibn Hibban from the hadith of 'Uqbah in meaning. He also said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, say: 'To recite a surah that is more beloved to Allah and more effective than 'Say, I seek refuge with the Lord of the Daybreak,' and 'Say, I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.' If you can avoid leaving them out in prayer, then do so." ]]" He means the two surahs of seeking refuge. The two surahs are also called the 'Mu'awwidhatayn.'

Abdullah, the one in need of Him, said: "And I seek refuge with them and with all the complete and perfect words of Allah. I take refuge in His all-encompassing mercy from everything that harms religion, and undermines certainty, or leads to regret in the end, or casts doubt on faith that is mixed with flesh and blood [[The phrase 'mixed with flesh and blood' means: blended. This was clarified in the Sahih. (A)]]. I ask Him with the humility of my neck and the submission of my gaze, and by placing my cheek upon His greatest majesty, seeking intercession through His light which is the gray hair in Islam, and by what I mean through my migration to Him and my proximity, and my steadfastness in Mecca and my patience, relying on the strength of the powerful, and the weakness of the negligent. Then I ask Him by the right of His straight path, and His glorious and noble Qur'an, and by what I have faced of the toil of my right hand and the sweat of my brow, in the work of uncovering its truths, freeing from its constraints, revealing its mysteries, and affirming its subtleties, summarizing its points and the delicate nuances of its arrangement, extracting from its poverty and the jewels of its knowledge, filled with captivating benefits that exist only in it, encompassing what cannot be encompassed of the innovations of its words [[The phrase 'of the innovations of its words' in the Sahih means 'something innovative' with a kasrah: meaning newly created. And so-and-so is innovative in this matter, meaning: unique (A)]] and meanings, with brevity that eliminates excess, and avoiding the distasteful and tedious. Even if its content were only to present everything according to its law, it would be enough as a sought-after treasure for the scholars, and a gem that one wishes to find in the depths of the seas. And by what He has honored me with and glorified me, and chosen me for His generosity and singularity: from His elevation upon my hands in the descent of His glad tidings and warnings, and the revelation of His verses and surahs, from the secure city between the sacred precincts, and before the sacred house, until the interpretation occurred, where the revelation was found: that He grants me a good ending, protects me from the evils of fate, and overlooks my shortcomings on the Day of Calling, and does not expose me with them before the heads of witnesses, and grants me a home of permanence from His bounty, with His vast grace and abundant giving. Indeed, He is the Generous and Noble, the Compassionate and Merciful.

(In a version, the text is:) In the original of the author in his handwriting, may Allah have mercy on him: This version is the first original copy that was transcribed from the black ink, and it is the blessed copy of the sacred sanctuary that is sought for blessings from the heavens and is prayed for in the year of drought. The author completed it facing the Kaaba in the wing of his Suleiman house, which is at the door of Ajyad, marked by the school of the scholar: On the morning of Monday, the 23rd of Rabi' al-Thani in the year 528, and he is praising Allah for His abundant generosity, and sending blessings upon His servant and Messenger, and upon his family and all his companions.