The order of the surahs in the Qur’an is not the order of revelation; the first revelation stands near the end, in surah 96. So which surah stands first, and which last? First is Al-Fatihah, a prayer of seven verses. Last is An-Nas, “Mankind”, six short verses. Laid side by side, they turn out to speak to each other.
Three titles, twice
The same three titles of Allah on the first page and the last.
Al-Fatihah names Allah as Lord of the worlds, Sovereign of the Day of Recompense, and God (Allāh). An-Nas opens with three verses that name Him Lord of mankind, Sovereign of mankind and God of mankind:
Lordrabb
رَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ1:2
بِرَبِّ ٱلنَّاسِ114:1
Sovereignmālik / malik
مَٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ1:4
مَلِكِ ٱلنَّاسِ114:2
GodAllāh / ilāh
لِلَّهِ1:2
إِلَٰهِ ٱلنَّاسِ114:3
In Al-Fatihah He is Lord of the worlds and Sovereign of the Day of Recompense: of everything, and of all time. In An-Nas He is Lord, Sovereign and God of mankind: of each one of us. The Book opens on the widest scale and closes on the closest.
The path, and the one who waits on it
At the start we ask for the straight path. At the end we seek refuge from the one who lies in wait on it.
Al-Fatihah has one request: Guide us to the straight path. But the Qur’an also tells what Satan vowed when he was cast out:
قَالَ فَبِمَآ أَغۡوَيۡتَنِي لَأَقۡعُدَنَّ لَهُمۡ صِرَٰطَكَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ
[Satan] said, "Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path
Ṣirāṭaka l-mustaqīm, Your straight path: the same words as in Al-Fatihah. Whoever asks for the path needs to know that someone is waiting on it. And the last surah of the Book is exactly a search for refuge from him:
مِن شَرِّ ٱلۡوَسۡوَاسِ ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ
From the evil of the retreating whisperer
An-Nās 114:4
ٱلَّذِي يُوَسۡوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ ٱلنَّاسِ
Who whispers [evil] into the breasts of mankind
An-Nās 114:5
مِنَ ٱلۡجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ
From among the jinn and mankind
An-Nās 114:6
And begins again
The Book ends with refuge. Reading begins with refuge.
The Qur’an says how to begin reciting it:
فَإِذَا قَرَأۡتَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ
So when you recite the Qur'an, [first] seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled [from His mercy]
That is why Muslims begin recitation with aʿūdhu billāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm, I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled. Whoever finishes reading the Qur’an ends with An-Nas, seeking refuge. And whoever starts again begins by seeking refuge, and then with Al-Fatihah. The end and the beginning meet, like a ring.
Verses never seen before
“Have you seen the verses revealed tonight? The like of them has never been seen.”
أَلَمْ تَرَ آيَاتٍ أُنْزِلَتِ اللَّيْلَةَ لَمْ يُرَ مِثْلُهُنَّ قَطُّ قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ وَقُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ
So the Prophet ﷺ said of the last two surahs, Al-Falaq and An-Nas: Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn, and Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.
He recited them every night before he slept (Sahih al-Bukhari 5017). And the Qur’an itself does the same: it begins by teaching us to ask for the path, and ends by teaching us to seek refuge while we walk it.