"I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed." Anyone who enters upon a science must know its definition and its principles. The definition of this science is: the knowledge by which the meanings of the speech of Allah are known. Its name is the science of tafsīr.

Tafsīr and taʾwīl are not one and the same in meaning. Tafsīr means the explanation of the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, from the perspective of what has been transmitted (al-manqūl). Taʾwīl means confirming what the text can sustain of meaning from the perspective of reason (al-ʿaql). Transmitted reports are indispensable in tafsīr, for the Qurʾān says to the Messenger, ṣ.a.w.s.: "so that you might make clear to the people what has been sent down to them" (Q. 16:44). For this reason tafsīr relies upon what the Messenger explained. When no transmitted report from the Messenger is found, tafsīr by rational inference is accepted, because Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: "an Arabic Qurʾān, so that perhaps you might reason" (Q. 43:3). This verse has given us the right to exercise reason in order to understand the meanings of the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

ʿAlī, r.a., was asked: "Do you possess a book that the Messenger of Allah singled out for the People of the House?" He replied: "No, only the Book of Allah, or an understanding of it that Allah grants to a Muslim man." And ʿAlī, r.a., said: "The Qurʾān is supple, possessed of many aspects; accept its aspects." Whoever holds fast to something that has an aspect in the Qurʾān, let none dispute it with him.^[1]

Both tafsīr and taʾwīl must rest upon transmission or reason. The Prophet, ṣ.a.w.s., forbade interpreting the Qurʾān by mere personal opinion. The interpretation of the Qurʾān requires knowledge of Arabic speech, knowledge of the legal rulings, knowledge of rhetoric and literary craft, and a light in the heart of the interpreter.^[2]

^[1] Ibn Saʿd transmits via ʿIkrima from Ibn ʿAbbās that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib sent him to the Khārijites with the instruction: 'Go to them and dispute with them, but do not use the Qurʾān as your evidence against them, for it is possessed of many aspects (dhū wujūh); dispute with them through the Sunna.' Ibn ʿAṭiyya likewise observes that great numbers of the pious predecessors interpreted the Qurʾān freely from their understanding, and that they entrusted this to the Muslim community.

^[2] The prohibition of interpreting the Qurʾān by mere ungrounded opinion (tafsīr bi-l-raʾy al-mujarrad) is widely transmitted. Al-Suyūṭī enumerates fifteen sciences required of the Qurʾānic commentator in his al-Itqān fī ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, among them Arabic linguistics, morphology, rhetoric, principles of jurisprudence, occasions of revelation, and the science of sound transmission (ʿilm al-riwāya). The distinction between blameworthy opinion and praiseworthy rational inference (ijtihād) is discussed at length in that work.

This Book was sent down to us by Allah as guidance and light, unlike all other books. Whoever holds fast to it arrives at what he seeks; whoever neglects it goes astray. It is the word of the Lord of all existence, revealed in the language of the Arabs, the most eloquent of all languages. Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says: "Verily We have revealed it as an Arabic Qurʾān so that you might reason" (Q. 12:2). It is reported from the Prophet, ṣ.a.w.s.: "The superiority of the speech of Allah over all other speech is like the superiority of Allah over His creation." Whoever recites it and acts by it is like a citron: its taste is good and its scent is good; and whoever hears it and acts not by it is like the date: its taste is good but it has no scent.

The science of tafsīr is the noblest of all sciences, because the nobility of any science is measured by the nobility of its subject-matter, and the subject of this science is the speech of Allah, Blessed and Exalted. No speech is nobler than the speech of Allah; therefore no science is nobler than the science of tafsīr. Any science that requires the science of tafsīr is itself a subordinate science, for the Qurʾān is the foundation upon which every other Islamic science rests: ḥadīth, fiqh, kalām, and taṣawwuf all return to it for their authority and validity.

The commentator of the Qurʾān occupies the highest station among the scholars, because he speaks about the meaning of the speech of Allah. This station entails a corresponding obligation: he must know the Arabic language in its depth and breadth, and he must possess sound understanding so that he does not carry the speech of Allah to a meaning it cannot bear.

The wisdom in beginning the recitation of the Qurʾān with the words of seeking refuge (al-istiʿādha) is that the reciter is about to engage with the word of Allah, which is the greatest of all speech. Satan desires to distract him from understanding it, to cast doubt into his heart, or to cause him to stumble in its recitation. By saying "I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed," the reciter places himself under the protection of Allah, who drives Satan away from him so that he may receive the divine speech with a pure heart and attentive mind.

Allah, Blessed and Exalted, commands this at Q. 16:98: "When you recite the Qurʾān, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the accursed." The word rajīm (accursed) comes from the root r-j-m, meaning to stone and drive away. Satan is named rajīm because he was cast out and banished from the mercy of Allah.

A student once went repeatedly to a scholar in Khurāsān until he had memorized four thousand ḥadīths from him. He said: "I shall go to the other scholars and debate with them, for I have become learned." He came to a gathering of scholars and began to speak; they refuted him on every point, until he felt ashamed and returned to his teacher. He said: "Master, I memorized four thousand ḥadīths from you, yet the scholars refuted me at every turn." The scholar replied: "Go and learn, for the knowledge of ḥadīth is not the same as the knowledge of the religion. Knowing a narration is not understanding it." The student returned and continued to study, and he became one of the scholars.

This story illustrates that tafsīr requires not only the memorization of transmitted material but deep understanding, sound reasoning, and God-given insight. A person may memorize the words of scholars and yet remain ignorant of their meanings.

The Messenger, ṣ.a.w.s., once came out to the mosque and encountered two groups of people. In one group, people were engaged in supplication and remembrance of Allah. In the other, people were engaged in learning and teaching. He said: "Both groups are engaged in good. As for this group: they supplicate to Allah, and if He wills He grants them, and if He wills He withholds. As for this group: they learn and teach the ignorant. I was sent as a teacher." And he sat with the group that was learning and teaching.

The Prophet, ṣ.a.w.s., is thus the supreme teacher, and the knowledge he taught is the foundation. Among the most important aspects of this knowledge is the knowledge of the Book of Allah, its words, meanings, and the sciences surrounding it. To sit in a circle of learning is therefore to follow the practice of the Prophet.

"By Allāh's Name, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful."

The scholars differed extensively over the basmala and its status: whether it is an independent verse of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa, or a verse revealed at the head of every sūra but not of the Fātiḥa specifically, or a separator between sūras with no independent verse-status of its own. The scholars of Qurʾānic recitation differ: the Medinans, led by Nāfiʿ, hold that it is not a verse of the Fātiḥa; the Kūfans, led by ʿĀṣim and al-Kisāʾī, hold that it is.^[3]

What is established without dispute is that the basmala was revealed as part of the Qurʾān. Its revelation marked the beginning of every sūra, and the Messenger, ṣ.a.w.s., knew the conclusion of one sūra and the beginning of the next by the descent of the basmala. The Prophet never began any affair of consequence without saying it, and the believer is instructed to begin every righteous act with it so as to seek the blessing (baraka) of Allah's name.^[5]

The basmala comprises nineteen letters, and the guardians of Hell who attend the Fire are nineteen in number (Q. 74:30). The scholars of tafsīr note the correspondence: whoever takes refuge in the basmala with true sincerity may hope for protection from each of the nineteen.

^[3] Transmitted by Abū Dāwūd with a sound chain from Ibn ʿAbbās: 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not know the boundary between two sūras until Bismi llāhi l-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm was revealed to him.' See Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh. Al-Qurṭubī transmits the same point at the relevant location in his commentary.

^[5] Transmitted via Wāqiʿ from al-Aʿmash from Abū Wāʾil from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd: 'Whoever wishes Allah to protect him from the nineteen guardians of Hell, let him recite Bismi llāhi l-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm, so that Allah may make for each of its letters a shield against each one of them.' The nineteen guardians are mentioned in Q. 74:30: 'Over it are nineteen.'

"I recite in the name of Allah" or "we recite in the name of Allah": a person begins and does not say "I begin" (abtadiʾu), because "beginning" can be understood in a material sense, whereas reciting is a spiritual act from the outset. The bāʾ here is for accompaniment (mulābasa): it indicates that the recitation is performed while being accompanied by, or grounded in, the name of Allah.^[4]

The name Allāh is the greatest and most comprehensive of the divine names. It is the name that the Qurʾān ascribes to the Being who possesses all perfection; all the other names (al-Raḥmān, al-Raḥīm, al-Malik, and the rest) are attributes that qualify it. The name Allāh is not shared by any created being; no child has ever been named Allāh, nor has any idol. It is therefore the most particular and the most sublime of the names of Allah, Blessed and Exalted.

Al-Raḥmān (the Compassionate) and al-Raḥīm (the Merciful) are both derived from the root r-ḥ-m (mercy). Al-Raḥmān denotes an intense, encompassing mercy that extends over all creation in this world, believers and disbelievers alike. Al-Raḥīm denotes a mercy that is reserved for the believers specifically in the hereafter. This is why the Qurʾān says: "And He is ever Merciful (raḥīm) to the believers" (Q. 33:43): the specific mercy of the raḥīm is for the people of faith.

^[4] Ibn Jazī al-Kalbī, al-Tashīl li-ʿUlūm al-Tanzīl: 'Allāh is a primitive proper noun (ism murtajal jāmid); the alif and lām in it are constitutive of the name itself, not the definite article. The view that it is derived from al-taʾalluh (absolute devotion/worship) is also transmitted.' Ibn Kathīr further reports that al-Rāzī preferred the view that the name is not derived at all, citing al-Khalīl, Sībawayhi, and the majority of the uṣūliyyūn and jurists.

The basmala contains nineteen letters, and the guardians of the Fire are nineteen (Q. 74:30). There is a transmitted tradition that whoever recites the basmala sincerely, Allah will make for him from each of its letters a shield against one of the nineteen guardians.

The basmala is also required at the opening of the prayer. No prayer is valid for one who does not recite Sūrat al-Fātiḥa, and no recitation of the Fātiḥa is complete without its opening: "By Allāh's Name, The Entirely Merciful, The Especially Merciful." The scholars debate whether it is recited aloud or silently in the prayer, and the practice varies among the established schools of law. What is agreed upon is that it is recited.

Meccan, seven verses.

This sūra is Meccan because the prayer was instituted in Mecca, and the prayer requires its recitation; Allah would not institute the prayer without providing the sūra to be recited in it. It is the opening of the Book (fātiḥat al-kitāb): fātiḥa means "the opening" or "that which opens." Allah opened His Book with it because it contains a summary of the entire Qurʾān: the praise of Allah, the affirmation of the divine attributes, the acknowledgment of servitude, and the supplication for guidance.

^[8] Among the traditions cited in support of the Fātiḥa's excellence: the narration transmitted by Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in his Musnad from ʿAbdullāh ibn Jābir; and the narration in the Musnad Abī Dharr recorded in the Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, in which Abū Dharr asked: 'O Messenger of Allah, how many books (kutub) did Allah send down?' He replied: 'One hundred and four books, of which thirty are in al-Fātiḥa.'

In a sacred ḥadīth transmitted by Muslim, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: "I have divided the prayer between Myself and My slave in two halves, and My slave shall have what he asks for." When the slave says al-Ḥamdu li-llāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn, Allah says: "My slave has praised Me." When he says al-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm, Allah says: "My slave has extolled Me." When he says Māliki yawm al-dīn, Allah says: "My slave has glorified Me — and has submitted himself to Me." When he says Iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn, Allah says: "This is between Myself and My slave, and My slave shall have what he asks for." When he says Ihdina l-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīm to the end, Allah says: "This is for My slave, and My slave shall have what he asks for."^[6]

This is the greatest honor a slave can receive: that Allah personally responds to each verse of the prayer with words of acceptance and acknowledgment. No other act of worship carries this direct divine dialogue in the same form.^[7]

^[6] Al-Tirmidhī transmits from Abū Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: 'Al-Ḥamdu li-llāh [i.e., Sūrat al-Fātiḥa] is the Mother of the Qurʾān (umm al-Qurʾān), the Mother of the Book (umm al-kitāb), and the Seven Oft-Repeated Verses (al-sabʿ al-mathānī).' Cf. Q. 15:87: 'We have given you seven of the oft-repeated and the mighty Qurʾān.'

^[7] Transmitted by Muslim from Abū Hurayra in a sacred hadith (ḥadīth qudsī): 'Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: I have divided the prayer between Myself and My servant in two halves, and My servant shall have what he asks for. When the servant says al-Ḥamdu li-llāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn, Allah says: My servant has praised Me (ḥamidanī ʿabdī). When he says al-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm, Allah says: My servant has extolled Me (athnanī ʿalayya ʿabdī). When he says Māliki yawm al-dīn, Allah says: My servant has glorified Me (majjadanī ʿabdī)...' See Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb al-Ṣalāh.

"al-ḥamdu lillāh (The Praise is for God), Lord of all the worlds."

Al-ḥamd (praise) covers every expression of gratitude and commendation that exists. Every act of praise and thanksgiving that any created being has ever offered belongs either to its description or to its consequence. The categories of ḥamd are divided according to whether it pertains to Allah's attributes or to His acts. The attributes of Allah are eternal and unacquired; His acts in the world are the grounds for the gratitude of His creatures.

The al at the opening of al-ḥamd indicates totality (istighrāq): all praise, of every kind, from every creature, in every time, belongs to Allah alone, Blessed and Exalted. Praise offered to other than Allah is ultimately grounded in His bounty, since all beauty, goodness, and perfection in creation are reflections of His attributes.

"You alone we worship, and from You alone we seek help."

The shift from third-person in the earlier verses ("Lord of all the worlds," "the Compassionate, the Merciful," "Master of the Day of Judgment") to second-person address here is a figure of speech called iltifāt (turning): the worshipper has praised Allah and drawn near to Him through that praise, and now turns to address Him directly, as one who has arrived in the presence of the Beloved.

Iyyāka naʿbudu (You alone we worship): worship (ʿibāda) in the complete sense is the submission of the whole self to Allah, encompassing all outward acts and inward states. Wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn (and from You alone we seek help): the slave acknowledges that he is incapable of worship, or of any good, without the enabling grace of Allah. He places worship before seeking help, because the act of worship establishes the relationship; the petition for help flows from the relationship.

"Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have incurred anger, nor of those who are astray."

The "straight path" (al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) is the path of Islam in its completeness: creed, practice, ethics, and purification. It is "straight" because it leads directly to Allah without deviation. The slave asks for guidance to this path in every prayer, in every rakʿa, because guidance is not a single event but a continuous divine gift that must be renewed at every moment.

Those "upon whom You have bestowed favor" are those who believed in what lay beyond their perception (al-ghayb). The ghayb has two kinds: what is hidden from you but known to others, and what is absolutely hidden from all created beings and known only to Allah. The believer accepts both kinds with full conviction based on the testimony of the Prophet, ṣ.a.w.s.

The four attributes mentioned at the opening of the sūra for the believers — taqwā, faith in the unseen (al-ghayb), establishment of prayer (iqāmat al-ṣalāh), and spending in charity (al-infāq) — correspond, in the exegetical tradition, to the four rightly guided caliphs. Taqwā corresponds to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who excelled in God-consciousness above all. Faith in the unseen corresponds to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who accepted what was reported to him without hesitation. The establishment of prayer corresponds to ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, who was known for his all-night prayers. And spending in charity corresponds to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, about whom, according to the tradition, Q. 2:274 was revealed: "Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly."^[9]

In this reading, the opening of Sūrat al-Baqara speaks not only of the general community of believers but of the particular excellences of the four who led that community after the Prophet, ṣ.a.w.s. Each caliph embodied in the highest degree one of the four qualities that define the God-fearing. Their example is thus inscribed at the very threshold of the longest sūra in the Qurʾān, as an invitation to the believers of every age to follow in their footsteps.

^[9] Transmitted by Ibn Abī Ḥātim via ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Mujāhid from his father Mujāhid, and also by Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī from the same chain: that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib once had four dirhams and spent one by night, one by day, one in secret, and one openly; whereupon Q. 2:274 was revealed: 'Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly.' The identification of the four attributes of the believers in Q. 2:3-4 with the four rightly guided caliphs is an exegetical tradition reported in several sources, including commentary traditions associated with al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and later Sufi commentators.