982/1 - Khawlah bint Hakīm (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that she heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Whoever lands somewhere and then says: A‘ūdhu bikalimātillah at-tāmmāt min sharri ma khalaq (I seek refuge with the perfect words of Allah from the evil of what He has created), nothing will harm him until he leaves that place.” [Narrated by Muslim]
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The words of Allah: This includes His cosmic and His Shar‘i (i.e. revealed) words.
An example of the cosmic words of Allah is the verse that says: {His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.} His Shar‘i words means all the revealed words, including Dhikr and supplications occurring in the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah, like Surat al-Fātihah, the verse of Al-Kursi, and the two refuge-seeking Surahs (Al-Falaq and Al-Nās).
1) The perfect words of Allah are a source of protection against all evils.
2) We may only seek refuge with the Almighty Creator. As for the helpless or absent created beings, we may not seek refuge with them. Rather, it is they who need help. So, the believer should beware of supplicating anyone other than Allah Almighty for removing harm or preventing it from happening.
983/2 - Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: When night fell while the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was traveling, he would say: “O earth, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. I seek refuge in Allah from your evil, the evil of what you contain, the evil of what has been created in you, and the evil of what walks upon you. I seek refuge in Allah from lions, people, snakes, scorpions, the inhabitants of the place (jinn), and from the parent and his offspring (Satan and devils).” [Narrated by Abu Dāwūd] [10]
-- Al-Khattābi said: “the inhabitants of the place” are the Jinn who inhabit the earth. He said: “the parent and his offspring” possibly refers to Satan and the devils.
1) It encourages us to seek refuge with Allah Almighty from all evils. Nothing can protect a person from harm except fleeing to his Lord.
2) For a wise purpose, Allah Almighty made some creatures naturally disposed to pose harm to others, so that people would seek protection from them in their Creator.