Surah 1. Al-Fathiha- Asad Translation
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Supplication to Allah for guidance taught by Allah Himself
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1 | IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:1 | ||
| 2 | ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,2 | |||
| 3 | the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace, | |||
| 4 | Lord of the Day of Judgment! | |||
| 5 | Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone do we turn for aid. | |||
| 6 | Guide us the straight way - | |||
| 7 | 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 |
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Note - 1According 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.
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Note - 2In 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.
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Note - 3I.e., by vouchsafing to them prophetic guidance and
enabling them to avail themselves thereof.
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Note - 4According 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.).
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| 1 | 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. |
| 2 | 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. |
| 3 | I.e., by vouchsafing to them prophetic guidance and
enabling them to avail themselves thereof. |
| 4 | 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.). |
