The formula of refuge
Whenever the Qur'an speaks of refuge ("take refuge", form I; "seek refuge", form X), the sentence has the same shape: a verb from the root عوذ, then بـ before the One in whom refuge is sought, then the threat. The threat takes one of two forms: من with a noun when the source of evil is named, أن with a verb when what is feared is an event.
The root عوذ occurs 17 times in the corpus. Every time the verb takes a complement, the one in whom refuge is sought is introduced by بـ: « بربّ الفلق », « بالله », « بك », « بربّي وربّكم ».
The threat is expressed in two ways, never a third:
- the form من + noun when the evil has a source that can be named: « من شرّ ما خلق », « من همزات الشياطين », « من كلّ متكبّر »;
- the form أن + verb when what is feared is an event: « أن أكون من الجاهلين », « أن يحضرون », « أن ترجمون ».
The one in whom refuge is sought is God in every case but one: in 72:6, men take refuge in other men among the Occulted, and the text immediately says it only increased their burden. The single exception is presented as a mistake.
One variant of form confirms the rule rather than breaking it: the verbal noun مَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِ (12:23, 12:79) attaches God by annexation instead of بـ; it is the fixed exclamation "May God preserve me from that!".
In the text
أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ ٱلْفَلَقِ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَٰتِ ٱلشَّيَٰطِينِ وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَن يَحْضُرُونِأَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْجَٰهِلِينَيَعُوذُونَ بِرِجَالٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَزَادُوهُمْ رَهَقًۭامَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِ