الفاتحة
Surah Al-Fatihah
The Opener · Surah 1 · Meccan · 7 verses
1بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ١In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.InsightAccording to Elmalılı, ar-Rahman expresses the will for good that is in Allah’s very being, and ar-Rahim the outward flow of that mercy as blessing and kindness. One is the source, the other its stream.2ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ ٢Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.InsightElmalılı explains hamd as distinct from both praise and thanks: you can admire a beautiful pearl, but you do not offer it hamd. Hamd is directed at one who does good knowingly and willingly. Thanks, by contrast, answers only a blessing already received.3ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٣The Beneficent, the Merciful.InsightElmalılı stresses that Allah’s mercy is not an emotion like a human’s. In people, compassion begins as a feeling of being moved. Allah is beyond change; His mercy is His willing good and granting it.4مَٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ ٤Master of the Day of Judgment.InsightAccording to Elmalılı, the word ‘din’ here means ‘recompense’. This recompense is not only punishment; it includes the reward of good. ‘Day’ does not mean 24 hours but an appointed time.5إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ ٥Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.InsightElmalılı notes that placing ‘You’ before the verb in Arabic gives the meaning ‘You alone, and no one else’. For him, worship is turning to Allah with intention and with one’s whole being.6ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ ٦Show us the straight path.InsightAccording to Elmalılı, hidayah is gentle and subtle guidance towards good. So simply ‘show’ or ‘lead’ does not fully capture it; the best is to say, as people know it, ‘grant us guidance’.7صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ٧The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.InsightElmalılı says the anger attributed to Allah is not the opposite of mercy: anger towards the oppressor is mercy for the oppressed. Not every pain is a punishment either; some pains herald blessings to come, for every matter is judged by its outcome.