Al-Mu'minun · Makki · ayah 98 of 118

Al-Mu'minun 23:98

وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَن يَحْضُرُونِ

“And I seek refuge in You, my Lord, lest they be present with me."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Not only their jabs, but their very company: the second refuge asks that the devils never set up camp beside you at all.

A reflection

Words for waking in fright

A young man wakes at three in the morning, heart pounding, sheets damp. The dream is already fading, but the fear is not. The room feels strange. He reaches for his phone, then stops.

The words of this ayah were given a place in exactly that moment. Al-Tirmidhi records that the Prophet ﷺ said: if one of you is frightened in sleep, let him say this. I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allah from His anger and His punishment, and from the evil of His servants. And from the jabs of the devils, and lest they be present. For they will not harm him. Al-Tirmidhi calls it ḥasan gharīb; another grading considers it weaker.

The last phrase, an yaḥḍurūn, is this ayah. One commentary notes that seeking refuge from the devils' jabs and their presence is recommended when going to sleep.

Notice what the supplication does not do. It does not analyse the dream. It does not reason with the fear. It places the frightened person, at once, under the protection of Allah's complete words.

Allah does not need this from you. It is for you, in the hours when you are most alone and least defended. Night fears are real, and they are not a sign of weak faith. The Prophet ﷺ gave words for them because people have them.

Learn the supplication. Teach it to your children before they need it. When you wake in fright, say it slowly before you touch the phone. Then lie still and let the words do what they were given to do.

There is something tender in the detail that follows in the same report. A Companion, it says, used to teach these words to his children who were old enough to learn them. Fear in the night is one of the first things a child brings to a parent. Here is an answer to give them that points beyond the parent, to the One who does not sleep.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.