The surah that is The Opening to the Quran and the straight way of God. Another common name of the surah is The [Lord’s] Praise (al-Ḥamd). It is seen to be a precise table of contents of the Quranic message and is important in Islamic worship, being an obligatory part of the daily prayer, repeated several times during the day.The surah is also known as: The Exordium, The Opening Chapter, The Opening of the Book, The Prologue.
1
بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi
In the Name of Allah,the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
2
الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ العالَمينَ
al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīna
All praise belongs to Allah,1Lord of all the worlds,In muslim parlance the phrase al-ḥamdu lillāh also signifies ‘thanks to Allah.’
3
الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful,
4
مالِكِ يَومِ الدّينِ
māliki yawmi d-dīni
Master1 of the Day of Retribution.This is in accordance with the reading mālik yawm al-dīn, adopted by ʿĀṣim, al-Kisāʾī, Yaʿqūb al-Ḥaḍramī, and Khalaf. Other authorities of qirāʾah (the art of recitation of the Qurʾān) have read ‘malik yawm al-dīn,’ meaning ‘Sovereign of the Day of Retribution’ (see Muʿjam al-Qirāʾāt al-Qurʾāniyyah). Traditions ascribe both readings to Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (ʿa). See al-Qummī, al-ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-Imām al-ʿAskarī.
5
إِيّاكَ نَعبُدُ وَإِيّاكَ نَستَعينُ
ʾiyyāka naʿbudu wa-ʾiyyāka nastaʿīnu
You [alone] do we worship,and to You [alone] do we turn for help.
6
اهدِنَا الصِّراطَ المُستَقيمَ
ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīma
Guide us on the straight path,
7
صِراطَ الَّذينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِم غَيرِ المَغضوبِ عَلَيهِم وَلَا الضّالّينَ
ṣirāṭa lladhīna ʾanʿamta ʿalayhim ghayri l-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīna
the path of those whom You have blessed1—such as2 have not incurred Your wrath,3nor are astray.4For further Qurʾānic references to ‘those whom Allah has blessed,’ see 4:69 and 19:58; see also 5:23, 110; 12:6; 27:19; 28:17; 43:59; 48:2.This is in accordance with the qirāʾah of ʿĀṣim, ghayril-maghḍūbi, which appears in the Arabic text above. However, in accordance with an alternative, and perhaps preferable, reading ghayral-maghḍūbi (attributed to Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (ʿa) as well as to Ibn Masʿūd and Ubayy b. Kaʿb among the Companions, and to Ibn Kathīr al-Makkī, among the seven authorities of qirāʾah), the translation will be: ‘not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor those who are astray.’ (see Muʿjam al-Qirāʾāt al-Qurʾāniyyah).For further references to ‘those who incur Allah’s wrath,’ see 4:93; 5:60; 7:71, 152; 8:16; 16:106; 20:81; 42:16; 48:6; 58:14; 60:13.For further references to ‘those who are astray,’ see 2:108, 175; 3:90; 4:116, 136, 167; 5:12, 60, 77; 6:74, 77, 125, 140; 7:30, 179; 14:3, 18, 27; 15:56; 17:72, 97; 19:38; 22:4, 12; 23:106; 25:44; 28:50; 31:11; 33:36, 67; 34:8; 36:47; 38:26; 39:22; 40:34; 41:52; 42:18; 45:23; 46:5, 32; 60:1.