فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ فَٱسْتَعِذْ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ · إِنَّهُۥ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ سُلْطَٰنٌ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ · إِنَّمَا سُلْطَٰنُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَوَلَّوْنَهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِهِۦ مُشْرِكُونَ
Fa-idhā qaraʾta'l-qurʾāna fa'staʿidh bi'llāhi mina'l-shayṭāni'l-rajīm · Innahū laysa lahū sulṭānun ʿala'lladhīna āmanū wa ʿalā rabbihim yatawakkalūn · Innamā sulṭānuhū ʿala'lladhīna yatawallawnahū wa'lladhīna hum bihī mushrikūn
"When you read the Qurʾān, seek refuge with God from the outcast Satan. · He has no power over those who believe and rely upon their Lord. · His power is only over those who take him as a patron and who associate him with God."
عَوْذ — root ع-و-ذ: to take refuge, to get behind something. The root was treated in detail in al-Falaq and al-Nās, by way of those sūras' names; I do not repeat it here.
And the same command occurred at Fuṣṣilat, 41/36 (wa immā yanzaghannaka mina'l-shayṭāni nazghun fa'staʿidh bi'llāh), and it was recorded there: the command came immediately after the hardest counsel of all (to meet evil with good) — it was saying "where the counsel will crack first". I rely on that treatment.
| Fuṣṣilat 41/36 | al-Naḥl 16/98 | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Immā yanzaghannaka … nazghun — when a prompting comes | Idhā qaraʾta'l-qurʾān — when you read |
| The kind of condition | Contingent — if it happens | Tied to an act — at every reading |
I give this as an observation: in Fuṣṣilat the seeking of refuge stands in the face of an event; in al-Naḥl it stands before a work. The second is a preparation made without waiting for the danger.
A note is needed on the tense as well: idhā qaraʾta — perfect. The lexicographers record that it has the sense "when you are about to read", and that idhā conveys the future. This is the widespread explanation. Some exegetes also transmit the reading "after you have read"; this view is a minority one. I transmit the disagreement, impose no preference, and issue no legal ruling.
رَجِيم — root ر-ج-م: to stone, to pelt; and from this, to drive off, to banish. The root was treated at al-Mulk, 67/5 (rujūman li'l-shayāṭīn); I rely on that treatment.
Root: س-ل-ط. The core the lexicographers give: to have mastery over a thing, to hold the power of disposal over it. Sulṭa — power; salīṭ — sharp, penetrating.
And the word is used in the Qurʾān in two senses: power, mastery and proof, argument. In Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) the construction bi-ghayri sulṭānin atāhum was treated in the second sense (disputation without ground). Here the first sense is used.
And the construction of the sentence must be recorded: the verse lays down one condition in saying there is no power, and another in saying there is.
| Over whom | Their attributes |
|---|---|
| No power | Āmanū and ʿalā rabbihim yatawakkalūn — two conditions |
| There is power | Yatawallawnahū and bihī mushrikūn — two conditions |
I give this as an observation about the word order: two attributes are enumerated on each side, and both are joined with a wāw. Protection, then, is named not with faith alone but with a stance added to faith (tawakkul); and the other side not with association alone but with a relationship added to it (tawallī — taking as a patron).