An-Nas الناس
Mankind
An-Nas closes the Quran, and its subject is an inward one: refuge not from an external harm but from waswas, the whispered suggestion of "the retreating whisperer who whispers into the hearts of people" — traditionally understood as Satan's prompting, which withdraws the instant God is remembered. Where Al-Falaq, its companion surah, asks protection from harms in the world, An-Nas asks protection from a harm inside the self. The surah names God three times in three descriptions — Lord, King, and God of mankind — before naming the whisperer, a structure commentators read as establishing whose authority is real before naming what threatens it. Recited together with Al-Falaq and Al-Ikhlas, it's part of the nightly and post-prayer routine of adhkar for many Muslims.
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ
Say, ‘I seek refuge with the Lord of people,
مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ
the Controller of people,
إِلَـٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ
the God of people,
مِن شَرِّ ٱلْوَسْوَاسِ ٱلْخَنَّاسِ
against the harm of the slinking whisperer––
ٱلَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ
who whispers into the hearts of people––
مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ
whether they be jinn or people.’
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Six verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
The Quran's surahs are ordered roughly by length rather than chronology of revelation; An-Nas's placement as the final, shortest surah is part of that traditional Mushaf ordering, not a claim about when it was revealed.
Waswas al-khannas — the retreating whisperer's suggestion into the heart — traditionally understood as the promptings of Satan, which recede when God is remembered.