Surah 1. Al-Fatiha

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:¹

  - Mohammad Asad

According to most of the authorities, this invocation (which occurs at the beginning of every surah with the exception of surah 9) constitutes an integral part of "The Opening" and is, therefore, numbered as verse {1}. In all other instances, the invocation "in the name of God" precedes the surah as such, and is not counted among its verses. - Both the divine epithets rahman and rahim are derived from the noun rahmah, which signifies "mercy", "compassion", "loving tenderness" and, more comprehensively, "grace". From the very earliest times, Islamic scholars have endeavoured to define the exact shades of meaning which differentiate the two terms. The best and simplest of these explanations is undoubtedly the one advanced by Ibn al-Qayyim (as quoted in Manar I,48): the term rahman circumscribes the quality of abounding grace inherent in, and inseparable from, the concept of God's Being, whereas rahim expresses the manifestation of that grace in, and its effect upon, His creation - in other words, an aspect of His activity.

In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In the Name of Allah- the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.

  - Mustafa Khattab

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful. ¹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Arabic words "Rahman" and "Rahim" translated "Most Gracious" and "Most Merciful" are both intensive forms referring to different aspects of God's attribute of Mercy. The Arabic intensive is more suited to express God's attributes than the superlative degree in English. The latter implies a comparison with other beings, or with other times or places, while there is no being like unto God, and He is independent of Time and Place. Mercy may imply pity, long-suffering, patience, and forgiveness, all of which the sinner needs and God Most Merciful bestows in abundant measure. But there is a Mercy that goes before even the need arises, the Grace which is ever watchful, and flows from God Most Gracious to all His creatures, protecting the, preserving them, guiding them, and leading them to clearer light and higher life. For this reason the attribute Rahman (Most Gracious) is not applied to any but God, but the attribute Rahim (Merciful), is a general term, and may also be applied to Men. To make us contemplate these boundless gifts of God, the formula: "In the name of God Most Gracious, Most Merciful": is placed before every Sura of the Qur-an (except the ninth), and repeated at the beginning of every act by the Muslim who dedicates his life to God, and whose hope is in His Mercy.

ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,²

  - Mohammad Asad

In this instance, the term "worlds" denotes all categories of existence both in the physical and the spiritual sense. The Arabic expression rabb - rendered by me as "Sustainer" - embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language. It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently, authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception to its final completion. Thus, the head of a family is called rabb ad-dar ("master of the house") because he has authority over it and is responsible for its maintenance; similarly, his wife is called rabbat ad-dar ("mistress of the house"). Preceded by the definite article al, the designation rabb is applied, in the Qur'an, exclusively to God as the sole fosterer and sustainer of all creation - objective as well as conceptual - and therefore the ultimate source of all authority.

All praise is for Allah, the 'Rabb' of the Worlds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

All praise is for Allah- Lord of all worlds,¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 i.e., Lord of everything in existence including angels, humans, and animals.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds. ²⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Arabic word Rabb, usually translated Lord, has also the meaning of cherishing, sustaining, bringing to maturity. God cares for all the worlds He has created.

the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace,

  - Mohammad Asad

The Compassionate, the Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

  - Mustafa Khattab

The Beneficent, the Merciful:

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Most Gracious Most Merciful.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lord of the Day of Judgment!

  - Mohammad Asad

Master of the Day of Judgment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Master of the Day of Judgment.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Owner of the Day of Judgment,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Master of the Day of Judgment.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone do we turn for aid.

  - Mohammad Asad

O'Allah! You Alone we worship and You Alone we call on for help.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

You 'alone' we worship and You 'alone' we ask for help.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee alone we ask for help.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek. ²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

On realizing in our souls God's love and care, His grace and mercy, and His power and justice (as Ruler of the Day of Judgment), the immediate result is that we bend in the act of worship, and see both our shortcomings and His all-sufficient power. The emphatic form means that not only do we reach the position of worshipping God and asking for His help, but we worship Him alone and ask for His aid only. For there is none other than He worthy of our devotion and able to help us. The plural "we" indicates that we associate ourselves with all who seek God, thus strengthening ourselves and strengthening them in a fellowship of faith.

Guide us the straight way -

  - Mohammad Asad

O'Allah! Guide us to The Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Guide us along the Straight Path,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Show us the straight path,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Show us the straight way. ²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If we translate by the English word "guide," we shall have to say: "Guide us to and in the straight Way." For we may be wandering aimlessly, and the first step is to find the Way; and the second need is to keep in the Way: our own wisdom may fail in either case. The straight Way is often the narrow Way, or the steep Way, which many people shun (xc.11). By the world's perversity the straight Way is sometimes stigmatized and the crooked Way praised. How are we to judge? We must ask for God's guidance. With a little spiritual insight we shall see which are the people who walk in the light of God's grace, and which are those that walk in the darkness of Wrath. This also would help our judgment.

the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings,³ not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray!⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by vouchsafing to them prophetic guidance and enabling them to avail themselves thereof.

According to almost all the commentators, God's "condemnation" (ghadab, lit., "wrath") is synonymous with the evil consequences which man brings upon himself by wilfully rejecting God's guidance and acting contrary to His injunctions. Some commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari) interpret this passage as follows: "...the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings - those who have not been condemned [by Thee], and who do not go astray": in other words, they regard the last two expressions as defining "those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings". Other commentators (e.g., Baghawi and Ibn Kathir) do not subscribe to this interpretation - which would imply the use of negative definitions - and understand the last verse of the surah in the manner rendered by me above. As regards the two categories of people following a wrong course, some of the greatest Islamic thinkers (e.g., Al-Ghazali or, in recent times, Muhammad 'Abduh) held the view that the people described as having incurred "God's condemnation" - that is, having deprived themselves of His grace - are those who have become fully cognizant of God's message and, having understood it, have rejected it; while by "those who go astray" are meant people whom the truth has either not reached at all, or to whom it has come in so garbled and corrupted a form as to make it difficult for them to recognize it as the truth (see 'Abduh in Manar I, 68 ff.).

The Way of those whom You have favored; not of those who have earned Your wrath, or of those who have lost The Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

the Path of those You have blessed- not those You are displeased with, or those who are astray.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 It is customary to say “Âmîn” or “Amen” at the end of this sûrah.

The path of those whom Thou hast favored; Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace Those whose (portion) is not wrath and who go not astray. ^{23 24}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Note that the words relating to Grace are connected actively with God; those relating to Wrath are impersonal. In the one case God's Mercy encompasses us beyond our deserts. In the other case our own actions are responsible for the Wrath, the negative of Grace, Peace, or Harmony.

Are there two categories? - those who are in the darkness of Wrath and those who stray? The first are those who deliberately break God's law; the second those who stray out of carelessness or negligence. Both are responsible for their own acts or omissions. In opposition to both are the people who are in the light of God's Grace: for His Grace not only protects them from active wrong (if they will only submit their will to Him) but also from straying into paths of temptation or carelessness. The negative gair should be construed as applying not to the way, but as describing men protected from two dangers by God's Grace.