Part 13

fact that it is mentioned in the Noble Quran. It is one of the evil

forces of the Unseen which can harm man. That is why Allah

Almighty asks us to seek refuge with Him from it, saying:

"And from the evil of the envier when he envies."

We cannot see envy but the fact that something is so small that

it cannot be seen by the eye does not mean its effect is any the less.

In fact its effect may be all the greater. The smallest germs, for

instance, are the' ones which have the most severe effect on the

body. They are the strongest in resisting treatment. As science pro­

gresses and we are able to enlarge things hundreds of thousands of

times or millions of times, we discover germs and very small

things whose effect is very severe. So the fact that we cannot see

envy does not necessarily mean that it has no effect or that its

To make this easier to grasp, we say that as science advances,

many types of rays have been discovered. They include laser

beams which were discovered recently. These laser beams have

many practical uses. They are among the most precise means of

measurement. They are used in delicate surgical operations.

Operations can take place using laser beams without the need of

any scalpel and without shedding a single drop of blood. These

beams penetrate the finest and hardest things. Modern medicine

has now begun to rely on laser beams in many areas. Yet can the

sick person see what he is being treated with or does the one who

carries out the operation see the laser beams? No, but their effect

on the body is greater than that of a scalpel.

So why should you suppose that the eye of the envier does not

emit rays more deadly than laser beams? They enter your body and

do things in it while you are not aware of it. The concept of laser

beams makes it easier for us to grasp what is said about the eye of

the envier. They give us a picture of a sensory event. It approxi­

mates for us a form of the unseen which is neither sensed nor per­

Do you not find that when a man is angry, we say that his eyes

are blazing or giving off sparks, or that he is looking daggers and

other similar expressions? Where did these metaphors corne from?

Are there real sparks or any actual daggers we can see in his eye?

Is there not a sensation which we are aware of, even if we do not

see anything physical in front of us which leads to it? No one has

actual sparks corning out of his eye nor do any real daggers issue

from his eye. But this feeling we express indicates that we fully

sense the effect of something non-physical - just as a sick person

senses the effect of the laser rays, but does not see them.

It is established from the Noble Quran that envy is real and

that it inflicts evil on man. We do not see anything physical. As we

said, the smaller a thing is, the greater its severity sometimes is.

The severity is not connected to the size. It is connected to the

depth of the effectiveness and its power. Envy and magic are both

among the evils which cannot seen, but which are on a par with

visible evils. The harmful rays only come from the envier in states

"And from the evil of the envier when he envies."

From this we know that man can be injured by envy and that

envy is an evil from which we must seek refuge with Allah.

Everybody has spiteful, grudging impulses and, when they are pro­

voked, envy occurs. Allah - glory be to Him and may He be exalt­

ed! - as a mercy to us, commanded us to seek refuge from hidden

evils like malice and envy.

When our belief in Allah is strong, we turn to Him and seek

refuge with Him and He protects us from the evil of all ofthis. But

those who perpetuate these. things do not seek refuge with Allah.

When harm befalls such a person, he tries to seek refuge in mortal

powers; When a mari is afflicted by the harm of magic, he goes

from one magician to another magician to another magician,

attempting to nullify the effect of magic. If he had turned to Allah

with a sincere heart, the action of the magic would have been nul­

It is the same with envy. People try to seek refuge in talismans

or amulets or other things, like seeking the help of green pearls ..

These talismans neither harm or help nor do they remove envy or

nullify magic. This is a type of shirk against which we caution

people because all power to act in existence belongs to Allah

Almighty alone. No one exists who does all that be wills, except

Allah Almighty. When we seek refuge with other than Allah, we

seek protection or the removal of harm or whatever through that

thing and that is a type of shirk.

Allah Almighty commands us in His Mighty Book to seek

refuge with Him alone from all these things. He says:

"Say: 'I seek refuge with the Lord of Daybreak,jrom the

evil of what He has created, from the evil of the darkness

when it gathers, from the evil of the women who blow on

knots, from the evil of an envier when he envies."

And the Almighty also says:

"Say: 'I seek refuge with the Lord of men, the King of

men, the God ofmen.from the evil of the slinking whisper­

er who whispers in the breasts of men, of jinn and men."

Allah Almighty commanded His Messenger, may Allah bless

him and grant him peace, by using the word, "Say". When we read

this ayat, we say what the Messenger of Allah said.

We must note that in Surat al-Falaq we are turning to Allah

and seeking His help in matters in which our will plays no part and

in respect of which we cannot repel harm from ourselves. In Surat

an-Nas we tum to Allah Almighty and seek refuge with Him in

matters in which our will does play a role, but confronting of

which we fear we will be weak.

Allah - glory be to Him and may He be exalted! - says, "Say:

'I seek refuge with the Lord of Daybreak." "Daybreak" signifies

morning or the light which comes to obliterate the darkness. So it

is as if we were seeking refuge with .he Light of Allah Almighty

to drive away the darkness of evil and falsehood from ourselves

and to illuminate the Path of Truth.

Seeking refuge here is turning to Allah Almighty from every­

thing which alarms man and threatens his security and safety and

which man cannot confront with his own power. That is why he

seeks refuge with the One who has the power to repel evil.

So Allah Almighty tells us to seek refuge with Him. When w~

do that, we are following the Path of· Allah, The Path is light and

guidance for man in his life. "Daybreak" is that light which drives

away the darkness. Allah - glory beto Him and may He be exalt­

ed! - is the Light of the heavens and the earth. He is the one who

brings light into our hearts to guide us to belief and certainty. He is

the One who brings light into all His existence to guide us on our

Allah - glory be to Him and may He be exalted! - says, "from

the evil 0/ what He created." Here we must pause. Allah did not

create evil in relation to man, but rather He created that which ben­

o efits our life, and man himself chooses that which brings evil into

existence and brings disobedience into existence and brings into

being what corrupts existence. Allah gives us an example of the

meaning of evil in the Noble Quran in His words:

"And from the fruit of the date-palm and the grape-vine

you take both an intoxicant and wholesome provision. In

that there is certainly a sign for people who use their

The noble ayat shows us that Allah Almighty created dates and

grapes so that we can eat them, but we have transformed them

from being wholesome provision into evil since from them we

have made wine. When we look around us we find that evil

springs from man's bad usage of things, and not from the things in

themselves. For instance, we have many benefits and uses in

knives, but we can change this to evil by killing people with them.

Our tongues enable us to testify that there is no god but Allah

and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and to read the Quran,

but we can change this to evil by using our tongues to speak. words

of disbelief. We seek refuge with Allah! And we can use them to

bar people from the path of Allah and to give false testimony and

other things. The hands have innumerable beneficial uses, but we

can tum them to evil by using it for murder, injury and committing

Thus evil comes from people's evil utilisation of that which

Allah Almighty created for their benefit. So we know the meaning

of the noble verse, ''from the evil what He created." He continues

by saying, ''from the evil of darkness when it gathers," Part of the

evil of the darkness of the night is "when it gathers." This means

when its darkness begins. On account of its darkness, night renders

us powerless to defend ourselves because we cannot see in the

dark what is plotted against us. An enemy may conceal himself in

the darkness and kill us. We might step on a snake or a harmful

insect which we do not see in the dark and so it injures us. Night is

stillness, rest and sleep. When a man sleeps, he is powerless to

defend himself. That is why he needs someone to protect him and

guard him. This is why guards are increased at night. The police

are told to stay awake to keep the peace. In the day a man can pro­

tect himself. But at night, he needs someone to stay awake to pro­

"The Women who Blow on Knots"

His words, "women who blow on knots," means from the evil

of the devices of magicians. "Women who blow on knots" means

magicians in general. It is said that some of the magicians used to