Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
Virtues of the Quran's Chapters and Verses
فضائل سور القرآن وآياته
Abū Hurayrah reported: ‘I went along with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he heard a man reciting “Say: He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Everlasting Refuge” (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “It is assured.” I asked, “What is assured?” He replied, “Paradise.”’
ʿĀʾishah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed a man to lead a detachment. He would lead his companions in prayer, always ending with ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ). When they returned, this was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he said, ‘Ask him why he does that.’ They asked him, and he replied, ‘Because it describes the Most Merciful, and I love to recite it.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Tell him that Allah loves him.’
Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two rakʿahs of ṭawāf the two sūrahs of seeking refuge: ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Translation notes
عَنْ جَابِرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ،
The Arabic names the narrator as Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, while the English witness shortens this to Jābir.
Should the witness’s shortened narrator name be noted?
Ubayy ibn Kaʿb said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would recite in the first rakʿah of witr ‘Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High’ (Sūrat al-Aʿlā), in the second ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn), and in the third ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
Abū Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited in the two dawn-prayer rakʿahs ‘Say: O disbelievers’ (Sūrat al-Kāfirūn) and ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ).
ʿĀʾishah reported that every night when the Prophet ﷺ went to bed, he would cup his hands together, breathe into them, and recite into them ‘Say: He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ), ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak’ (Sūrat al-Falaq), and ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind’ (Sūrat an-Nās). Then he would wipe them over as much of his body as he could, beginning with his head and face and the front of his body. He would do this three times.
Translation notes
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ إِذَا أَوَى إِلَى فِرَاشِهِ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ جَمَعَ كَفَّيْهِ ثُمَّ نَفَثَ فِيهِمَا فَقَرَأَ فِيهِمَا (قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ) وَ(قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ) وَ(قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ( ثُمَّ يَمْسَحُ بِهِمَا مَا اسْتَطَاعَ مِنْ جَسَدِهِ يَبْدَأُ بِهِمَا عَلَى رَأْسِهِ وَوَجْهِهِ وَمَا أَقْبَلَ مِنْ جَسَدِهِ يَفْعَلُ ذَلِكَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ.
The Arabic explicitly names Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq, and an-Nās; the English witness generalizes them as ‘the last three chapters’ without listing them.
Should the three sūrahs be named explicitly in the translation?
Muʿādh ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Khubayb reported from his father, who said: ‘We went out on a rainy night of intense darkness, seeking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to lead us in prayer.’ He said: ‘I caught up with him, and he said, “Say.” I said nothing. Then he said, “Say,” and I said nothing. He said, “Say,” once more. I asked, “What should I say?” He replied, “Say: ‘He is Allah, the One’ (Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ) and the two protective sūrahs, in the evening and the morning, three times; they will suffice you against everything.”’
ʿAbdullāh ibn Yūsuf narrated to us; Mālik informed us, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was ill, he would recite the protective sūrahs over himself and breathe lightly. When his pain became severe, I would recite over him and wipe him with his hand, hoping for its blessing.
Translation notes
فَلَمَّا اشْتَدَّ وَجَعُهُ كُنْتُ أَقْرَأُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَمْسَحُ بِيَدِهِ رَجَاءَ بَرَكَتِهَا.
The Arabic says ʿĀʾishah recited over him and wiped him with his hand; the English witness says she rubbed his hands over his body.
Should the translation retain the Arabic wording about wiping him with his hand?
ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me to recite the protective sūrahs after every prayer.’
ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Have you not seen verses revealed tonight the like of which has never been seen? “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak” (Sūrat al-Falaq) and “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind” (Sūrat an-Nās).’
Translation notes
" أَلَمْ تَرَ آيَاتٍ أُنْزِلَتِ اللَّيْلَةَ لَمْ يُرَ مِثْلُهُنَّ قَطُّ ( قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ) وَ ( قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ) ".
The Arabic says that verses were revealed that night and that their like had never been seen; the English witness specifies that they were revealed to the Prophet (‘to me’).
Should the witness’s added first-person detail be excluded from the translation?
ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir reported: ‘I followed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was riding and placed my hand on his foot. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me Sūrat Hūd and Sūrat Yūsuf.” He replied, “You will never recite anything more effective before Allah than ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak’ (Sūrat al-Falaq) and ‘Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind’ (Sūrat an-Nās).”’
Abū Saʿīd reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to seek refuge from the jinn and the evil eye until the two protective sūrahs were revealed. When they were revealed, he adopted them and left everything else.
Maḥmūd ibn Khālid informed us; al-Walīd narrated to us; Abū ʿAmr narrated to us, from Yaḥyā, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith. Abū ʿAbdullāh informed me that Ibn ʿĀbis al-Juhanī told him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: ‘O Ibn ʿĀbis, shall I not guide you—or, he said, inform you—of the best refuge that those who seek refuge can use?’ He replied, ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said, ‘“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak” and “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind”—these two sūrahs.’