Everyone who embarks upon a discipline should know its principles, its definition. The definition of this discipline: a science by which the meanings of the speech of Allah are known, and its name is the science of tafsīr. Tafsīr and taʾwīl are not of one meaning. Tafsīr means what explains the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, from the side of what is transmitted, and taʾwīl is what supports the speech’s admitting of a meaning by it from the side of reason. Transmission is indispensable in tafsīr, because the Qurʾan says to the Messenger ﷺ: «that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them» (Q. 16:44). For this reason, in tafsīr one relies upon that by which the Messenger ﷺ explained it. And if no transmitted report from the Messenger ﷺ is found, then interpretation by what reason grasps is accepted, because Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: «an Arabic Qurʾan, that you may reason» (Q. 12:2). This āya has granted us [leave] to reason, so that we may understand the meaning of the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. ʿAli, may Allah ennoble his face, was asked:

⟨Do you have a book with which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ singled you out, the Family of the House?⟩ He said: ⟨No, except⟩

⟨the Book of Allah, Exalted, or an understanding of it granted to a Muslim man.⟩ [1] And ʿAli, may Allah ennoble his face, said: ⟨The Qurʾan is tractable, possessed of many faces; so accept its faces.⟩ [2] Anyone who holds fast to something that has a face in the Qurʾan is not to be objected to concerning it. Both tafsīr and taʾwīl must rest upon either transmission or reason. It has been transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ that he forbade interpreting the Qurʾan by personal opinion. [3] The interpretation of the Qurʾan requires

knowledge of the speech of the Arabs, knowledge of the rulings of the shariʿa, and knowledge of al-bayān and al-badīʿ; and there must be a light in the heart of the exegete.

[4] This Book — Allah sent it down to us as guidance and light. It is not like the rest of the books that are composed; it is not a dry worldly code; it is not a medical book by which diseases and remedies are known; it is not a human history by which events and happenings are known; it is not a volume of belles-lettres by which one is entertained — because all these arts, human power is able to compose their like.

And this Book, which came as guidance and light, lies beyond all of this and gathers all of this together: a constitution for this world and the next, from its descent until the end of time. Every [other] constitution pertains to one country or several countries for a time and is then abrogated, whereas this is a constitution that continues for all generations in all countries. Those before us held fast to this Book — they being the Messenger ﷺ and his Companions — and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, gave them what He had promised them: «Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the earth, as He made successors those who were before them»

«and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will surely exchange their fear for security. They worship Me, associating nothing with Me. And whoever disbelieves after that, those are the transgressors» (Q. 24:55), «and it was incumbent upon Us to aid the believers» (Q. 30:47), «and to Allah belongs might, and to His Messenger, and to the believers» (Q. 63:8). When the Umma held fast to the Qurʾan, Allah fulfilled these promises for them and they saw it: they took possession of the lands and subdued their people. The strongest states in the world at that time were the Romans and the Persians; the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ subdued them while they had no machinery, no numbers (ʿadad) and no war-matériel (ʿudad), only suras of the Qurʾan. Not all of them memorised the whole of the Qurʾan; rather, for each of them it was enough that he have suras of the Qurʾan — but that he act upon them and hold fast to them. [5] ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb conquered a quarter of the world and overcame all the states, until he entered Europe and ruled over the people entirely, knowing no arithmetic and no geometry except this Book.

And when the Umma grew heedless of this Book, the Europeans and Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj, the Easterners, gained mastery over them and overcame them, so they lost the might they had acquired through the Qurʾan. The road of return to might and glory is holding fast to this Book, and holding fast to this Book is not possible for one who does not know its tafsīr or its meaning. This is a Book sent down from heaven; Allah, Blessed and Exalted, sent it down upon His Messenger as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. In it He made clear everything He commanded His servants to do, and in it He made clear everything He forbade His servants, and He taught them the happiness He promises them in the hereafter. And whoever does not know this Book, how is he to know to hold fast to it? Coming to understand this Book is indispensable. For this reason the Messenger ﷺ interpreted the Qurʾan, and his Companions [6] interpreted it, and the Umma interpreted it, several

commentaries. This Qurʾan — a promise came down in it at the beginning of its descent, and Allah fulfilled that promise for us with a fulfilment that carries us to a strong hope in everything this Book has promised us. At the beginning of the Qurʾan there came down: «Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it. Its gathering and its recitation are upon Us. So when We have recited it, follow its recitation. Then its clarification is upon Us». (Q. 75:16–19) This was at the beginning of the descent of the Qurʾan. Allah promised that He would gather the Qurʾan for us, and this Qurʾan was gathered with a gathering for which there is no precedent in any book sent down from heaven or composed on earth. You will not find a house without finding in it a muṣḥaf in which the Qurʾan has been gathered. So «its gathering» which He promised us — we have seen it as Allah, Blessed and Exalted, promised us. «and its recitation» — He promised us that this Book would of necessity be recited, and this Book has been recited with a recitation for which there is no like in the case of any book. People recited it, the Muslims recited it, the unbelievers recited it, iron recited it, everything recited it. You will not now find a radio station — even in Paris, the enemies of Islam; even in London, the enemies of Islam; even in Israel; even in the seat of His Holiness the Pope — you will not find an Arabic-language station that opens its speech except after a recitation of the Qurʾan. This is as Allah promised us, that this Qurʾan would be recited; it too has been recited with a recitation the like of which has not preceded it for any book. «Then its clarification is upon Us». He promised the clarification of the Qurʾan, and so the Qurʾan has also been expounded — commentaries among the written works

and the sessions of tafsīr, from the time of the Prophet ﷺ to this day of ours — in a manner for which there is no precedent. [7]

I said that these three promises — Allah has fulfilled for us in them what He promised us, so that our hope has grown strong that everything Allah has promised us in the Qurʾan we shall find as He promised: «We have found what our Lord promised us to be true». (Q. 7:44)

The tafsīr of the Qurʾan is a science, and it is the noblest of the sciences, because the nobility of every science stands in proportion to the nobility of its object. This is the speech of Allah: its relation to our speech is the relation of the Real to creation. So it is the noblest of all the sciences.

The Qurʾan has many names, and the abundance of names indicates the nobility of the one named. Fifty-five names for the Qurʾan occur in the Qurʾan: it is al-Qurʾan, and it is al-Dhikr (the Reminder), the clear signs. But all of these names, if you reflect on their meanings, go back to two names, which are al-Qurʾan and al-Furqān. Just as the names of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, if you reflect on them, all go back to majesty (al-jalāl) and beauty (al-jamāl). al-Qurʾan is from al-qarʾ, which is gathering (al-jamʿ), and al-Furqān is from al-farq, which is separating. The servant must join separation and gathering: whoever has no separation has no servanthood, and whoever has no gathering has no gnosis. Separation is of two kinds: a separation that is being veiled by creation from the Real, Blessed and Exalted — this is a veil; and a separation that is knowing creation through the Real: «He created the heavens and the earth in truth» (Q. 39:5). This separation, which returns to the servant after his annihilation, is perfection, because he gives everyone who has a right his right and renders to everyone who has a portion his portion. His separation does not veil him from his gathering, nor does his gathering veil him from his separation. For this reason we have confined ourselves to explaining two of the names of the Qurʾan: al-Qurʾan and al-Furqān. al-Qurʾan is the Presence of Gathering, which is the Presence of Oneness — there is nothing other than Him, Blessed and Exalted: «He is Allah, One» (Q. 112:1). And al-Furqān is the Presence of Separation: «There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing» (Q. 42:11).

Aʿūdhu bi-Llāhi min al-shayṭān al-rajīm [I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed.] The wisdom in beginning the Qurʾan, in opening the recitation with this formula, is that entering upon the King requires knocking at the door and requires asking permission. When the speaker intends to begin reciting the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, he is embarking upon entry into the presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, conversing intimately with Him through His speech. For this reason he cleansed [himself] and cleansed his tongue by saying: Aʿūdhu bi-Llāhi min al-shayṭān al-rajīm The Exalted said: «So when you recite the Qurʾan, seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed». (Q. 16:98)

Aʿūdhu bi-Llāhi min al-shayṭān al-rajīm The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨Thus Jibrīl taught it to me, from the Tablet, from the Pen, from the Lord, Blessed and Exalted.⟩ This formula is the best of the formulae of seeking refuge. [8]

Aʿūdhu I take refuge with Allah, Blessed and Exalted; I call for help bi-Llāhi Blessed and Exalted min al-shayṭān who is Iblīs. al-shayṭān is from shaṭana when he became far off. [9] Iblīs was a servant brought near in the presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, as will come in his story tomorrow […] then he was driven out, cursed and removed far from His presence, and so he was named shayṭān and named Iblīs after his name had been ʿAzāzīl. [10] And al-rajīm has the sense of one pelted with stones, driven out from the presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted; driven out from the Garden; driven out from heaven; driven out from the mercy of Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

I take refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed. The servant has taken refuge with Allah — [Allah being] a proper name for the Divine Majesty — from Satan, of whom Allah has taught us that he is an enemy to us and whom He has commanded us to take as an enemy. Taking an enemy as an enemy means that you fortify yourself against him and that you take refuge. The servant has nothing but his Lord; he returns to his Lord and takes shelter with Him, taking refuge with Him from the evil of this created thing, which is Iblīs.

A student used to go back and forth to a scholar in Khurāsān until he had memorised from his mouth four thousand items of wisdom. When he took his leave of him to return to his homeland, the scholar said to him: Shall I teach you something better than all the wisdom you have? Is there Iblīs in your country? He said to him: Yes. He said: Does he whisper to you? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: When the enemy of Allah whispers to you, what do you do? He said: We repel him. He said: And if he returns? He said: We repel him. He said: And if he returns yet again? He said: We repel him.

He said to him: You have no power to repel him. «He sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them» (Q. 7:27). But when the enemy of Allah whispers to you, be like the guest: when the householder’s dog sets upon him, he seeks protection from the householder; he does not take on the dog himself. When Iblīs whispers to you, take shelter with his Lord; He will suffice you against his evil. Say:

I take refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed.

[11] And I take refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed: evils fall into classes. There is an evil that attaches to a man’s religion — either unbelief, or innovation, or moral dissolution, or a grave sin, or a minor one; all of these are afflictions in a man’s religion. Or an affliction in the servant’s body: illness, or chronic infirmity, or weakness, or sloth, or cowardice. Or in what belongs to the servant, such as the illness of [his] children, the death

of [his] children, and the loss of wealth — all of these are afflictions. When the servant takes refuge with Allah, he intends by it that he is taking refuge with Allah from all of his evil: an evil that goes back to his religion, an evil that goes back to his body, and an evil that goes back to what he has from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, in the way of blessing. It has been said that the outward form of taking refuge runs counter to gnosis, because fear of what is other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted, is something the gnostics do not accept for themselves, since they see nothing other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted. But this is courtesy towards Allah, Blessed and Exalted, inasmuch as He commanded it. The servant must see his own lowliness and destitution before his Creator. If he wishes, let him play the tyrant over anyone else; but with his Creator he is destitute, weak, incapable of anything — so much so that against the feeble Iblīs he seeks the protection of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, because he is incapable of driving him off. They said: Fear Allah, Blessed and Exalted, because His punishment is severe; and fear the one who fears Allah, because of his supplication; and fear the one who does not fear Allah, because he dreads nothing and refrains from nothing [12]. Taking refuge with Allah, then, is a drawing of strength from Allah and a display of destitution and self-abasement before the Creator, so that He may give him protection from this enemy; and it does not run counter to gnosis, but is rather courtesy towards Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Whoever’s station is such that he does not see Satan has no need of taking refuge. Some of the gnostics say: We are a people who do not know Satan. And Allah says: «My servants — you have no authority over them» (Q. 15:42).

The Messenger ﷺ was asked about Satan’s whispering during the prayer. He said: ⟨That is pure faith.⟩ [13] For the thief does not enter a house in which there is nothing. The unbelievers and the hypocrites do not experience the whispering

of Satan, because Satan has finished with their case. Everyone who experiences the whispering is truly a believer; it is out of the purity of his faith that he finds the whispering, because the enemy makes war only on one who treats him as an enemy. As for the one who falls in with him, he has finished with him; he has no need of taking refuge.

One day the Messenger ﷺ went out to the mosque and Iblīs met him. He said to him: What has brought you to this mosque of mine? He said to him: That you might question me. He said: Who is the most hateful of people to you? He said to him: You. He said to him: Then who? He said: A young man who grew up in obedience to Allah, Blessed and Exalted. He said to him: Why do you keep my community from praying in congregation? He said: Because when they are at prayer I remain in a fever until they give the salām and disperse from the prayer.

He said: Why do you keep them from fasting? He said: Because when Ramadan comes in I am fettered and chained; I do not stir for the duration of Ramadan. He said: Why do you keep them from jihad? He said: I am put in fetters so long as they do not turn back from jihad. He said: Why do you keep my community from almsgiving? He said: I am put into a fevered cauldron so that I do not keep them from almsgiving. [14] So the Prophet ﷺ took hold of him, bound his arms behind him and tied him to one of the pillars of the mosque. He said that he would leave him there until morning

and all the people gather, looking at him. After that he recalled the words of Sulaymān, upon him be peace: «And grant me a kingdom which shall not be fitting for anyone after me» (Q. 38:35) — so the Messenger ﷺ observed courtesy toward Sulaymān and set him free.

[15] I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the accursed. «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful». The basmala — they have differed over it a great deal: is it an āya of al-Fātiḥa, or an āya of every sura, or an āya of the Qurʾan only? Some of them said that it is part of an āya of the Qurʾan: «It is from Sulaymān, and it is: By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» (Q. 27:30); and it is not an āya in the Qurʾan and not an āya in al-Fātiḥa, and especially not in anything other than al-Fātiḥa. [16] And among them — foremost among them al-Shāfiʿī

— are those who said that it is an āya in al-Fātiḥa. And among them are those who say that it is not an āya in al-Fātiḥa, but that one begins with it.

The proof that the basmala belongs to al-Fātiḥa is that it has been found written in the muṣḥaf in the script of the Qurʾan, and what does not belong to the Qurʾan may not be written in the script of the Qurʾan; and it has been found written at the head of every sura. This is the strongest proof that it is an āya in al-Fātiḥa and an āya in every sura. It has been transmitted from the Messenger ﷺ: ⟨I used not to know the ending of one sura and the beginning of another sura except by By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful.⟩ [17] At the head of every sura Jibrīl would say: «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful», and so the Messenger knew that this was the beginning of the sura.

The second proof is that the basmala is a beginning with the Name of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and Allah, Blessed and Exalted, commanded His prophets before the Messenger to begin with the Name of Allah in all their affairs. Nūḥ said: «By Allah’s Name, [He is] the One who makes it sail and the One who brings it to anchor» (Q. 11:41) And Sulaymān said: «It is from Sulaymān, and it is: By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful. Do not exalt yourselves against me» (Q. 27:30–31). And the Prophet ﷺ was charged in the Qurʾan with taking all the prophets as his model: «So follow their guidance» (Q. 6:90). It was therefore obligatory upon him to begin with the basmala just as they had begun with it before him; and this makes the basmala obligatory upon him and makes it obligatory upon us as well: «Follow him» (Q. 7:158). The Prophet ﷺ is obliged to follow those of the prophets who came before him, and we are obliged

to follow him, him ﷺ. [18] So the Prophet ﷺ must begin with the basmala, and it is obligatory upon us in turn, in following him. And the Messenger ﷺ was asked about the basmala and said: ⟨[It is] a name among the names of Allah, Exalted, and between it and the Greatest, Mighty Name there is only what lies between the white of the eye and its black.⟩ [19]

«By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» (Q. 1:1) The Qurʾan begins with the letter bāʾ on account of its humility, its lowliness and its abasement: it did not raise itself up as the alif does. The word ism [name] derives from al-sumuww [elevation] or from al-sima [mark], because the name rises together with that which it names, or [because] the name is a mark for that which it names. The sounder view is that it derives from al-sumuww. [20] For this reason the Ahl al-Sunna and the Muʿtazila differed over the names of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: are they aʿlām [proper names] or ʿalāmāt [marks]? The Ahl al-Sunna hold that the names of Allah are proper names, not marks, and the Muʿtazila hold that the names of Allah are a mark for Him; they hold that Allah, in pre-eternity, has no name.

He merely created creation and they named Him with names — and this is rejected by the Ahl al-Sunna. [21] Rather, the names of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, are pre-eternal: Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has never ceased to be qualified by all His attributes and named by all His names, from pre-eternity to

everlasting end. [22] And among the names there are names of the Essence, names of the attributes and names of the acts, and all of them, with respect to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, are pre-eternal and beginningless, and with respect to what is other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted, they supervene. A human being has a name coined for him together with his coming into existence, and he has names that have supervened upon him, such as owner of the house, owner of the shirt, owner of the book, the scholar, the poet — all of these are names that have supervened upon him. As for Allah, Blessed and Exalted, it is not so; rather He is named by all His names in pre-eternity and qualified by all His attributes in pre-eternity. And this is the strongest thing the knower hopes for on the side of the Real, Blessed and Exalted, in that He named Himself al-Raḥmān, al-Raḥīm, al-Karīm, al-Ghafūr, al-ʿAfūw, al-Muʿṭī, and there was no existent other than Him who needed this. Since He named Himself with these names, and then existence supervened and they came to need His mercy, His pardon and His generosity, this strengthens their hope.

«By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» I recite by the Name of Allah, Blessed and Exalted — or: we recite. A person begins everything with the Name of Allah, and the verb is known but elided. On the school of the Basrans one supplies a verb; on the school of the Kufans one supplies a noun. In every case the governing term is elided, and every operator supplies what suits its operation. We are reciting now: we recite by the Name of Allah. The governing term of the basmala is, here, ‘we recite.’ We, the assembly, recite by the Name of Allah. If you are alone: ‘I recite by the Name of Allah.’ If you are eating: ‘I eat by the Name of Allah.’ If you are putting on clothes: ‘I put on clothes by the Name of Allah.’ ‘I drink by the Name of Allah.’ ‘I ride by the Name of Allah.’ What is supplied suits the act the speaker performs: we recite by the Name of Allah. «Allah» — a proper name for the Necessary Existent, who has no need of anything other than Himself and upon whom everything other than Himself depends. They differed over «Allah»: they said it is a proper name coined outright, just so. Sībawayh was seen in the Garden after his death and was asked by what he had entered the Garden. He said: ⟨By my saying that Allah is the most definite of the definite nouns.⟩ Others said [it is] from aliha, meaning ‘he worshipped’; the ilāh [is]

the one worshipped. Others said [it is] from aliha, meaning ‘he was bewildered,’ because intellects are bewildered at His greatness, Blessed and Exalted. [23] «Allah» is coined outright, not derived: this is the well-known position and the one relied upon. [24] No one other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has been named by this name.

The Arabs used to explain the deity as the creator of the heavens and the earth: «And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say: Allah» (Q. 39:38). They knew this; their unbelief came to them only from their saying, “This is nothing but a human being.” As for Allah’s being the creator of the heavens and the earth, and that He grants protection while none is granted protection against Him, and He feeds and is not fed — all the unbelievers acknowledged this and held it as belief, but they disbelieved in the Messenger ﷺ. «The Entirely Merciful» — an intensive form from mercy, and mercy is tenderness of heart: when a person sees a destitute man in a state of need his heart aches at that and so he does him good. This is impossible in respect of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Every attribute we have said to be impossible in respect of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has a beginning and an end: the beginning is impossible in respect of Allah, and the end is admissible in respect of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Tenderness of heart, or the aching of the heart — this is not admissible in respect of Allah, Blessed and Exalted; but doing good, which is the end, is admissible in respect of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. «The Entirely Merciful»: the One who bestows the great blessings; and «The Especially Merciful»: the One who bestows the subtle blessings. «The Entirely Merciful» is an intensive form — the raḥmān of this world and the raḥīm of the hereafter. al-Raḥmān is an intensive form, and it has not made al-Raḥīm superfluous, because this too is an intensive form. Allah has mercy on all the servants in this world, the believer among them and the unbeliever. And «The Especially Merciful» is an intensive form, a form proper to the attribute: a human being may show mercy while mercy is not his nature, but Allah is raḥīm. He is al-Raḥmān, who has extended mercy to all

creation, and in Himself His attribute is mercy: «He has decreed mercy upon Himself» (Q. 6:12). «The Especially Merciful» — an essential attribute: He is qualified by mercy from eternity, and He also bestowed mercy. This is what strengthens our hope: He bestowed favour outright, and not by mistake; rather this is His attribute. «He has decreed mercy upon Himself» (Q. 6:12). The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨Allah created one hundred [measures of] mercy. He stored ninety-nine portions with Himself and sent down a single portion, and by it is all the mercy, all the good things and all the blessings that are in this world, and by it creatures show mercy to one another, so that the beast lifts its hoof away from its young by this single portion. And when the Day of Resurrection comes, He will join this portion to the ninety-nine, so that they become a full hundred, and He will reserve it for the people of faith alone, so that He shows mercy to none but the people of faith.⟩ [25]

«By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» is nineteen letters, just as the Zabāniya are nineteen angels: «Over it are nineteen» (Q. 74:30). Whoever recites «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» once, each letter stands between him and one of the Zabāniya, so that he never enters the Fire. [26] It is therefore a safeguard against entering the Fire. «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» — practitioners of every discipline have discoursed upon it. As for the people of the secrets, the hadith already cited suffices them: ⟨A name among the names of Allah, between which and the status of being the Greatest [Name] there is only what lies between the black of the eye and its white.⟩ [27] The grammarians have discoursed upon it in terms of case-inflection, as already mentioned: that it is governed by a supplied term, which the Basrans supplied as a verb and the Kufans supplied as a noun; and it is a lesser sentence.

«The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» Caesar, the king of the Romans, wrote to ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb that he had a headache that was harming him and that the physicians were unable to cure it: was there any cure with the Commander of the Faithful? So he wrote «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» on a sheet of paper and sent it to him [with word] that he should put it in his cap. He put it in his cap, and whenever he wore the cap the headache subsided, and when the cap came off him the headache returned to him. So they searched it and found «By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful». [28]

Sūrat al-Fātiḥa

Meccan — seven verses.

This sura is Meccan, because the prayer was sent down in Mecca, and the prayer has never once been valid without Fātiḥat al-Kitāb. [29] So it is a Meccan sura by consensus, and some of the exegetes say that it was sent down twice. Meccan; seven āyāt.

Fātiḥat al-Kitāb is also called by many names, [30] and the multiplicity of the names indicates the nobility of the thing named. Among them: Fātiḥat al-Kitāb, that is, that with which the Book was opened — a verbal noun, like ʿāfiya. It is called Umm al-Qurʾan, and Umm al-Kitāb, and al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī, and al-Qurʾan al-ʿAẓīm: [31] «We have indeed given you seven of the oft-repeated [verses] and the Great Qurʾan. Do not stretch your eyes toward what We have granted certain groups to enjoy» (Q. 15:87–88). It is called al-Kanz (the Treasure), because the Prophet ﷺ said, ⟨It was sent down to me; it was a treasure beneath the Throne.⟩ [32] It is called Sūrat al-Ṣalāt, because the prayer is not valid without it. It is called al-Ṣalāt — Fātiḥat al-Kitāb is called al-Ṣalāt — on the authority of the hadith, ⟨I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves: half for My servant and half for Me, and My servant shall have what he asks.⟩ [33] It is called al-Duʿāʾ (the Supplication), and it is called the teaching of supplication

It is called al-Kāfiya (the Sufficient), and it is called al-Wāqiya (the Protecting), and it is called al-Ruqya (the healing incantation), on the authority of the hadith, ⟨And how do you know that it is a ruqya?⟩ [34] And it is called

al-Rāqiya, and it is called al-Shifāʾ (the Cure), because it has been transmitted that Fātiḥat al-Kitāb is a cure for every ailment except al-sām, [35] and al-sām [is]

death. It is called al-Asās (the Foundation), [36] because it is the foundation of this religion, which is Islam. It is called al-Nūr (the Light), and it is called Sūrat al-Ḥamd, and it is called Sūrat al-Shukr. These are the names of this sura, which is the most exalted sura in the Qurʾan.

The Messenger ﷺ asked: ⟨Which part of the Qurʾan is the most excellent?⟩ They said: ⟨Allah and His Messenger know best.⟩ He said: ⟨Fātiḥat al-Kitāb.⟩ [37] It is related that al-Ḥasan b. ʿAli — may Allah ennoble his face — fell severely ill, and the Prophet ﷺ grieved for him. So Jibrīl, upon him be blessing and peace, came down and said: Recite the sura in which there is no letter fāʾ over water with which al-Ḥasan is to be washed, and he will be cured of his illness. So the Prophet ﷺ searched, and behold, Fātiḥat

al-Kitāb — there is no letter fāʾ in it, because the fāʾ gives notice of firāq (separation). [38] So the Prophet ﷺ recited it over the water and al-Ḥasan was washed with it, and it was as though he had been loosed from a tether. The Messenger ﷺ said: ⟨It is a cure for every ailment except al-sām.⟩

A group of the Companions of the Messenger ﷺ travelled and halted at one of the encampments of the Arabs. They asked for an evening meal and were brought no evening meal; [the people] were niggardly toward them with food. During the night a snake bit the chief of the encampment, so they came to the guest and said to them: Have you among you anyone who performs ruqya? One of them said: Yes, I perform ruqya; but we asked you for the evening meal and you did not give us [anything], so we will not perform ruqya for you unless you pay us a price. They said: How much? He said: A flock of sheep. So they paid him a flock of sheep, and he recited Fātiḥat al-Kitāb over the chief, and the venom went down and he was cured on the spot. The man said: I shall drive the flock to the Messenger ﷺ so that I may ask him: is it licit or illicit? So he came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him the report, and he ﷺ said: ⟨And how do you know that it is a ruqya? Divide the flock among your companions, and assign me a share of it.⟩ So he knew that it was licit. For this reason this sura is called al-Ruqya.

[39] It has been transmitted from the Messenger ﷺ that Allah sent down one hundred and four books: fifty books upon Shīth [Seth] son of Ādam, upon him be blessing and peace; thirty books upon Idrīs, [that is,] Akhnūkh; ten upon Ibrāhīm; ten upon Mūsā before the Torah; and the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Furqān. [40]

All of these books are gathered in the four, and these four are gathered in the Furqān, and the Furqān — all [of it] is gathered in Fātiḥat al-Kitāb. So whoever recites Fātiḥat al-Kitāb, it is as though he has recited the Qurʾan, and as though he has recited the four books, and as though he has recited all of the heavenly books. [41] And it comprises the whole of the Qurʾan. The Qurʾan [has] nine genres (funūn):

The genre of praise: you find in the Qurʾan āyāt that praise Allah much and extol Him. And the genre of promise and threat. And you find in the Qurʾan the shariʿa and the ḥaqīqa. And you find in the Qurʾan supplication. And you find in it narrative — the stories of those before us. And you find in it admonitions, and reminding, and report, and the affirmation of oneness. «al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh» [the praise is for Allah] takes in all the extolling that belongs to Allah in the Qurʾan, and all the praise and the thanksgiving. Everything in the Qurʾan of extolling Allah and of eulogy — «al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh» [the praise is for Allah] has absorbed all of it. «Lord of the worlds» — affirmation of oneness. «The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» — promise. «King of the Day of Judgement» (Q. 1:2–4) — threat,

«You alone do we worship» — shariʿa; «and You alone do we ask for help» — ḥaqīqa; «Guide us to the straight path» (Q. 1:5–6) — supplication,

«the path of those whom You have favoured» — narrative; «not of those upon whom wrath has fallen, nor of those who go astray» (Q. 1:7) — admonition

and reminding. [42]

Allah mentioned in the Fātiḥa five of His names, Blessed and Exalted: al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh [the praise is for Allah] — Allah is a name; Rabb al-ʿālamīn — Rabb is a name; al-Raḥmān is a name; al-Raḥīm is a name; Mālik yawm al-dīn is a name. This is the root of the five pillars: ⟨Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah⟩ [43] The meaning of lā ilāha illā Llāh is: Allah. ⟨and the performance of the prayer⟩

al-Rabb has the sense of the one who sets right and the one who nurtures, and the servant’s prayer nurtures his Islam and sets it right. And al-Raḥmān [is] fasting — an intensive form expressing mercy. The servant attained such mercy toward the destitute that he made himself taste the hunger the destitute suffers

so that he might give him alms. This is the pillar of fasting. And al-Raḥīm is the pillar of zakat: he showed mercy to the destitute and so cut off for him a portion of his wealth. And Mālik yawm al-dīn — this is the hajj: just as people are gathered at the place of gathering from every horizon, coming to a single plot of ground, so too is the hajj.

At the beginning of the Fātiḥa [the imperative] “Say” is supplied: «al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh, Lord of the worlds» [the praise is for Allah] (Q. 1:2) because the end of the Fātiḥa came down as the speech of the servant. If “Say” is not supplied, the Fātiḥa comes out as though its beginning were the speech of the Lord and its end the speech of the servant; and since we wanted to say that all of it is the speech of the servant, we supplied “Say”: «al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh, Lord of the worlds, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgement … Guide us to the straight path» [the praise is for Allah] (Q. 1:2–6) This, of course, is the speech of the servant.

«al-Ḥamd» — praise with what is beautiful — «li-Llāh, Lord of the worlds» (Q. 1:2) Every praise and every thanks belongs to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, whether [it be for] His attribute or His act. The divisions of praise are four: the Lord’s praise of the Lord, the Lord’s praise of His servant, the servant’s praise of the Lord, and a servant’s praise of a servant like himself. All of this belongs to Allah, whether [for] His attribute or His act.

«al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh» [the praise is for Allah] The degrees of the Garden are eight, and al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh is eight letters; whoever says al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh merits the eight ranks of the Gardens. [44] «Lord of the worlds» (Q. 1:2) — the owner of the worlds; a plural of ʿālam, and the ʿālam is everything other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted. It is pluralised in the masculine so as to take in all existent things. «The Entirely Merciful» — the bestower of the great blessings and of their outward aspects — «The Especially Merciful» (Q. 1:3) — the bestower of the subtle blessings — «Master of the Day of Judgement» (Q. 1:4) — the King on the Day of Requital. He is the King every day, but every day there is found someone who contests Allah in His dominion in some part of the world; on the Day of Resurrection, however, no one contests Him in His dominion. When He speaks: «To whom belongs the dominion today?» (Q. 40:16) He finds no answer from any human being, so He answers Himself: «To Allah, the One, the Overpowering». When the servant had praised his Lord with his words: «al-Ḥamdu li-Llāh, Lord of the worlds, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful» [the praise is for Allah]

«Master of the Day of Judgement» (Q. 1:2–4) he merited addressing Him, and so he addressed the Presence with his words: «You alone we worship» — we worship none but You — «and You alone we ask for help» (Q. 1:5) — we ask help of none but You. When he had praised his Lord, He said to him: put to me whatever you wish of requests. The servant said:

«Guide us to the straight path» (Q. 1:6) — he asked guidance of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to the straight path, and the straight path is the path of the prophets and the messengers. He said: «the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour» (Q. 1:7) — the prophets: among them are those upon whom Allah bestowed favour. «Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them of His bounty? For We gave the family of Ibrāhīm the Book and wisdom, and We gave them a great kingship» (Q. 4:54) Among them are those upon whom Allah bestowed favour, so that they combined kingship and prophethood; among them are those whom Allah tried with great trials. Had He said “the path of those who were tried”, or “the path of those who were killed”, or “the path of those who were slaughtered”, the servant would have taken fright at this; but to win the servant over, to rouse him and to set his mind at ease, He said: «the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favour» Not all the prophets were favoured; some of them were tried with the severest trials. «of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous — and good are those as companions» (Q. 4:69) «not of those against whom there is anger» (Q. 1:7) — it is related from the Messenger that they are the Jews, and the Qurʾan described them as those with whom He is angry. The Jews are those who knew and did not act upon their knowledge, so Allah became angry with them. «nor of those who go astray» (Q. 1:7) — it is related from the Messenger that they are the Christians. [45] The Christians strayed from the way and did not know it; they did not know the truth, they are merely ignorant, to the point that they made a servant into a lord, out of the depth of their ignorance and their folly. As for the Jews, they knew but did not act upon their knowledge; and the Christians are merely ignorant. «not of those against whom there is anger»

«nor of those who go astray» (Q. 1:7) āmīn is not part of the Qurʾan; it is rather the seal of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, like the seal of the king with which he seals his letters. [46]

Sūrat al-Baqara

Two hundred and eighty-six āyāt.

«By Allah’s Name: The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful. Alif Lām Mīm» (Q. 2:1) — Allah knows best what He intends by it. «That is the Book; there is no doubt in it» (Q. 2:2): this Book which Muhammad ﷺ recites — there is no doubt that it is sent down from Allah, Blessed and Exalted. There is no doubt in this, even if Abū Jahl and his like doubted. They are fools and madmen who have no intellects; their doubt is as though it were no doubt — there is no doubt in it. The sun is the sun even if the blind man does not see it, and honey is honey even if the sick man does not find its taste. So the Qurʾan admits no doubt in it, even if the madmen and the fools doubt it, because it came with proofs and crushing arguments that it is not from any other than Allah, Blessed and Exalted. «A guidance for the godfearing» (Q. 2:2): a guide for those who travel toward godfearing. This Book — Allah guides by it everyone for whom it was decreed in pre-eternity that he travels toward godfearing. «Those who believe in the unseen» (Q. 2:3): they are those who believe in what is absent from them. The unseen is of two kinds: an unseen that is absent from you — it is the Garden, the Fire, the angels, the ḥūr al-ʿīn, the resurrection and what lies beyond the resurrection; all of this is absent from you and you have believed in it. And an unseen from which you yourself are absent, O servant, and it is the Presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: it is not what is absent — it is present, nearer to you than everything; if you do not find it, then you are the absent one, not it. «They believe in the unseen» (Q. 2:3). «And they establish»

«the prayer» (Q. 2:3) they perform the prayer completely. «And out of what We have provided them they spend» (Q. 2:3) and they spend out of what We have provided them. «And who believe in what has been sent down to you» (Q. 2:4) which is the Qurʾan. «and what was sent down before you» (Q. 2:4) Belief in what was sent down before the Messenger brings no benefit unless one believes in what was sent down to the Prophet ﷺ. For this reason, whoever believes in all the prophets and disbelieves in the prophet of his own time is an unbeliever. So too with the saints: whoever believes in all the saints and disbelieves in the perfect one of his own age is cut off from Allah, Blessed and Exalted. Belief in what was sent down before you brings no benefit except after belief in what was sent down to you and in what was sent down before you. «and of the hereafter they are certain» (Q. 2:4) they are certain of the hereafter. «Those» (Q. 2:5)

who were described with those attributes that we have mentioned. «on guidance from their Lord» (Q. 2:5) The guidance we asked for in al-Fātiḥa: these who are described with these attributes have found it. «And it is they who are the successful» (Q. 2:5) those whose triumph is settled, by their deliverance from the Fire and their entry into the Garden made everlasting for them.

He opened the sura with four āyāt on the believers, two āyāt on the unbelievers, and thirteen āyāt on the hypocrites. Then He called His servants to His oneness, to belief in His Messenger, and to the Garden and the Fire. Then He addressed the Children of Israel through half the sura. Then He brought the jurisprudence of the religion: «Retaliation is prescribed for you in cases of killing: the free man for the free man» (Q. 2:178). The four descriptions at the beginning of the sura belong to the four caliphs. The first thing mentioned was «A guidance for the godfearing» (Q. 2:2), and godfearing is the attribute of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him: «And the most godfearing shall be kept far from it, he who gives his wealth to purify himself» (Q. 92:17–18). This was revealed concerning Abū Bakr by agreement. And belief in the unseen is the attribute of ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him. On the day ʿUmar embraced Islam, there came down upon the Messenger ﷺ while ʿUmar was embracing Islam: «O Prophet, Allah is sufficient for you, and those of the believers who follow you» (Q. 8:64). Belief is the attribute of ʿUmar. «And they establish the prayer» (Q. 2:3) — this is the attribute of ʿUthmān, may Allah be pleased with him: «Or one who is devoutly obedient through the watches of the night, prostrating and standing, wary of the hereafter» (Q. 39:9). This was revealed concerning ʿUthmān; he used to stand the night in prayer with the Qurʾan. «And out of what We have provided them»

«they spend» (Q. 2:3) this is the attribute of ʿAli b. Abī Ṭālib, may Allah ennoble his face. He hired himself out in a Jew’s garden and kept working until he was paid four dirhams. He gave one dirham in alms before the assembly, one dirham in secret, one dirham by night, and one dirham by day. [47] Spending is the attribute of ʿAli, may Allah the Exalted ennoble his face. So everyone who is marked by these attributes is under the banners of these men on the Day of Resurrection. Spending increases the servant’s wealth and does not diminish it [48], ⟨No sun rises but that two angels are at its two sides, one of them saying: O Allah, grant one who spends a replacement, and the other⟩

⟨saying: O Allah, grant one who withholds destruction.⟩ [49]

It is related that a servant among Allah’s servants asked one of the prophets to supplicate Allah for him that he might find ample provision. So the Prophet ﷺ supplicated Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and Allah answered his supplication. Then he said to him: Inform

⟨my servant, that I have decreed his lifetime [to be] two halves: a half in which he will be poor and a half in which he will be rich. He may choose which of the two I shall begin with for him.⟩ So that prophet ﷺ called the man and informed him. He consulted his wife, and she said: “Tell him: let the ample provision come to you now.” The man said to her: “Poverty after wealth is very hard.” She said to him: “Do not go against me; just ask for wealth now.” So he came to that prophet ﷺ and said to him: “Let wealth come to me now.” And wealth came to him. Then the woman said to him: “When you sew a garment for yourself, give a garment as alms to a poor man; and when you buy your food, buy the like of it as alms for a poor man; and when you build a house, make the like of it alms [for] the poor; and when you buy a riding beast, likewise — everything you do, do the like of it for the poor.” So he set about acting on this, and what he had kept increasing, until half his lifetime had passed. Allah revealed to the prophet: ⟨I had decreed so-and-so’s lifetime, half of it⟩ […] ⟨and half of it rich, but I found him grateful, so I have decreed his whole lifetime rich: he will never become poor.⟩ [50]

So for this reason spending does not diminish provision. The Messenger ﷺ says: ⟨Upon every⟩ sulāmā ⟨of the son of Adam there is, each day, an alms.⟩ [51] And the human being has in him, of joints, the number of the days of the year: three hundred and sixty-five parts. Every part of these parts obliges you to bring out an alms for it every day. They said: ⟨O Messenger of Allah, who is able to do this?⟩ He said: ⟨Enjoining what is right is an alms; a prayer of two⟩ rakʿas ⟨is an alms; and that you strive with⟩

⟨your brother in his need — whether it is fulfilled or not fulfilled — is an alms.⟩ And bringing gladness [into another’s heart]: all of these are alms. Allah completes

through them those alms. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace.

O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, the opener of what was closed and the seal of what went before, the helper of the truth by the truth and the guide to Your straight path. We ask Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to grant us and you the understanding of this Book and action in accordance with it, and to complete this work for us as He began it for us, by the standing of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to write us down in the register of felicity in this world and the hereafter. O Allah, bless our master Muhammad and grant him peace.