Surah Al-Ikhlas, Al-Falaq and An-Nas

When. Three times in the morning and three times in the evening. The same three are also commonly recited before sleep, and they are known together as al-mu'awwidhat, the chapters of seeking refuge.

The words. Each of the three begins with qul — "say" — an instruction addressed to the Prophet and preserved inside the recitation. Reciting them, a person repeats the command as well as the answer.

Then the shape of the set: al-Ikhlas is not a refuge text at all. It is a definition — Allah is One, as-Samad, a word with no clean English equivalent, meaning the one turned to in need, who depends on nothing. Only the second and third say a'udhu, I seek refuge. So the sequence establishes who is being sought before seeking anything from Him.

Al-Falaq takes refuge with the Lord of the daybreak from external harms — darkness, envy. An-Nas takes refuge with the Lord of mankind from whispering, which is internal. Outward first, then inward, and the inward one comes last.

On the number. Three times each, morning and evening, is the pattern this is transmitted with. It is a practice with a fixed shape rather than a free repetition.

Common confusion. Al-Falaq and An-Nas are two separate chapters, though they are almost always recited together and their openings are nearly identical. Al-Ikhlas belongs with them by practice, not by subject.

Their length. All three are extremely short — four, five and six verses. The whole set takes under a minute even said three times over.