الناس
An-Nas
Mankind • makkah • 6 Verses
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قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ
Commentary:
In the present Surah three Divine attributes, viz. رب الناس (Lord of mankind), ملک الناس (King of mankind), اله الناس (God of mankind), have been invoked as against one attribute, viz. رب الفلق (Lord of the dawn) in the preceding Surah, because this one attribute comprises all the three above-mentioned attributes. Whereas one Divine attribute, viz. رب الفلق (Lord of the dawn) has been invoked against four kinds of mischief in the previous Surah, in the Surah under comment three Divine attributes have been invoked against one mischief, i.e. whispering of the Evil One. This is because promptings or insinuations of Satan cover all conceivable evils.
Mention of three Divine attributes in the Surah implies that all sin proceeds from three causes, viz. when a person looks upon other men as his رب (Lord) or ملک (King), or اله (God), that is to say, he regards them as the main prop or support of his life or slavishly surrenders to their undue authority or makes them the object of his love and adoration. A believer is enjoined here to look up to God alone as the real support of his life, and to render to Him alone true and un-conditional obedience and to make Him alone the real object of his love and adoration. Or, the believer may have been enjoined in these verses constantly to seek protection against the ravages of exploiting capitalists, tyrannical rulers and from the crafty priestly class who, taking undue advantage of the unwary and simple-minded folk exploit them mercilessly. The reference seems particularly to be to the conditions obtaining during the latter days.
إِلَٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ
In the present Surah three Divine attributes—Rabb (Lord of mankind), Malik (King of mankind), and Ilah (God of mankind), have been invoked as against one attribute, viz. Rabbul-Falaq (Lord of the dawn) in the preceding Surah, because this one attribute comprises all the three above- mentioned attributes. Whereas one Divine attribute—Lord of the dawn—has been invoked against four kinds of mischief in the previous Surah, in the present Surah three Divine attributes have been invoked against one mischief, i.e. whispering of the Evil One. This is because the promptings or insinuations of Satan cover all conceivable evils.
The three Divine attributes have a subtle connection with the physical, moral and spiritual conditions of man. Man’s physical and moral developments take place under the attribute Rabb, and his thoughts, words and actions are punished or rewarded by Malik; and the attribute Ilah signifies that God is th
مِن شَرِّ ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ ٱلْخَنَّاسِ
ٱلَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ
مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ
Commentary:
The verse may mean that the Evil One whispers evil thoughts into the hearts of the jinn (big men) and common men, sparing nobody. Or it may mean that whisperers of evil are to be found both among the jinn and common men. The verse may also refer to the evils of western democracies and of the Communist powers that work from behind the iron curtain.
The Evil One whispers evil thoughts into the hearts of jinn (big men) and Nas (common men), sparing no one. Or, the verse may mean that whisperers of evil thoughts are to be found both among jinn and common men.