بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

1. ¹IN THE NAME² OF GOD,³ THE ALL-MERCIFUL,⁴THE ALL-COMPASSIONATE⁵

It is commonly accepted that this sūrah was revealed during the Makkah period of Muhammad’s Prophethood. Some Traditions say that it was also revealed on a second occasion in Madīnah. The majority of scholars hold that the verses first in order of revelation are the initial five verses of Sūrat al-‘Alaq (96), but the first sūrah to be revealed in its entirety is Sūrat al-Fātihah. In one respect, the Basmalah is the “seed” of Sūrat al-Fātihah, which, in turn, is the “seed” of the whole Qur’ān. With its marvelously terse and comprehensive words, it balances praise and petition perfectly, and it establishes four main themes or purposes of the Qur’ānic guidance – (1) establishing the Existence and Unity of God, (2) Prophethood, (3) the Resurrection and afterlife, and (4) worship and justice. It is called Sūrat al-Fātihah because it is the opening chapter of the Qur’ān. It also has other names such as “the Seven Doubly-Repeated (Verses)” because of its glory and distinction, and because it must be recited in the first two rak‘ahs of each of the Prescribed Prayers (the Salāh); “the Mother of the Book,” because it is the seed of the whole Qur’ān; and “the Treasure,” because it contains many precious truths.

1. This blessed phrase (Bi’smi-llāhi’r-Rahmāni’r-Rahīm translated as “in the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate,” called the Basmalah), is one of the symbols of Islam. Muslims begin every good deed, and individual daily actions, that are not religiously forbidden, such as entering one’s workplace, or eating, by uttering it. All things and beings come to life and survive through it. The particle bi- here means both in and with, so that everything, dependent on the laws of the All-Merciful, does whatever it does in and with His Name. A minute seed under the earth germinates and pushes through soil and stone to grow into the sunlight, depending on the laws of the All-Merciful, and begging the (special) compassion of the All-Compassionate. Human beings, favored with free will, should always do good and do so in God’s Name and to please Him, beginning the effort in and with the Name of God.

According to some scholars, the Basmalah is counted as the first verse of every Qur’ānic sūrah (chapter) except the ninth. According to the Hanafī school of Law, it is a verse, but not counted as the first verse of every sūrah. It is the first verse of Sūrah al-Fātihah, the opening sūrah of the Qur’ān, and it is written before every sūrah because of its importance and its being blessed, and so as to separate the sūrahs from each other. It is, in any case, a rope of light extending from the Supreme Throne of God to the hearts of people. Whoever holds fast to it in awareness of its meaning and is enlightened by it can rise to the highest point of human perfection.

2. The word “name” translates the Arabic ism. It is derived from the root SaMā (s-m-v) meaning to be high, exalted, or VaSaMa, meaning to be a sign. (We may call to mind samāwât, meaning skies or heavens, because of their being high.) The nominal phrase, “the name of God,” reminds us that God is exalted as the Divine Being having names, One Whom we may address, and we mean and remember only that Divine Being when we mention the name God.

Knowledge of God (in the sense of the Arabic ‘ılm) is impossible in respect of His Being or Essence (Dhāt). Because there is none like or comparable to Him, it is therefore impossible to grasp or comprehend His Essence. However, we can recognize God or have some knowledge of Him (in the sense of the Arabic ma‘rifah) through His works, acts, Names, Attributes and Essential Qualities (shu‘ūn). Awareness of His works (what we see in the world, His creation) leads us to become aware of His acts, and that awareness leads us to His Names and Attributes which, in turn, lead us to His Essential Qualities, and thence to awareness of the One Who has these Qualities.

Journeying to the Divine Being can be through either reflection on God’s works – the universe, including human beings in particular, with the physical and psychological composition particular to each – or through the disciplines of the “heart,” following a Sūfī way. Combining the two is always safer and preferable. (Regarding the Sūfī way or Islamic Sufism, see Fethullah Gülen, Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism (translated)).

3. Allāh, translated as God, is the proper Name of the Divine Being Who creates and administers His creatures, individually and as a whole; Who provides, brings up, sustains, protects, and guides each and all; Who causes to perish and revives each and all; Who rewards or punishes, etc. All His Attributes are Attributes of absolute perfection, and He is absolutely free from any and all defects. He is Unique and Single, having no like or resemblance, and nothing is comparable to Him. He is absolutely beyond any human conception: Eyes comprehend Him not, but He comprehends all eyes (6: 103).

God is the Unique, Single Being with the exclusive right to be worshipped and to be made the sole aim of life. He is loved in and of Himself. Everything is dependent on Him and subsists by Him. Every truth has its source in Him. His Existence is so manifest that one may doubt one’s own existence but one cannot and should not doubt His. Eyes cannot see Him because of the density and plenitude of His manifestations. His Light is a veil before the eyes. He is worshipped because He is worthy of it as God— not the other way round; that is, He is God because He is the object of worship.

Without (belief in) God, life is torment within torment, intellect is pure retribution, ambitions are pure pain, attainments are losses, union is separation, love is suffering, pleasure is distress, and knowledge is whim. He is the cure for the afflicted, and the remedy for wounded hearts. Hearts attain peace and come to rest by remembering and mentioning Him. Whoever has found Him has found everything; whoever has lost Him has lost everything.

4. The expression “the All-Merciful” translates the Arabic ar-Rahmān. Ar-Rahmān is an essential Attribute of God, the precise rendering of which into another language is impossible. Though an Attribute in essence, ar-Rahmān can be used almost interchangeably with the name God, for it is applied to none other than God. It means the One with infinite mercy Who embraces the whole of creation with mercy, grace and favor, including all of humanity, without discrimination between believers and unbelievers, giving life, maintaining, providing, and endowing with the capacities necessary for each. God has created the universe out of, and as the manifestation of, the mercy embodied by His Name, the All-Merciful.

The universe is the work of the All-Merciful, and God’s Mercy embodied by the All-Merciful embraces the creation in its entirety. There are two aspects of Divine manifestation pertaining to the universe. One is His universal manifestation, with all of His Names related to the universe. It may be understood by analogy with the sun’s manifestation throughout the world with its light, including the seven colors in it and heat. This is called the manifestation of Oneness (at-tajallī al-Wāhidiyah). The (attributive) Name the All-Merciful is the source of this manifestation. It is the source of the magnificent order of the universe such that everything is in absolute obedience to God, bound by the laws of the All-Merciful. A particular instance and visible symbol of it is the enlivening of the earth, with the plants and animals therein, together with the provision and sustaining and administration thereof in perfect harmony and mercy. All of that is owed to and dependent on the manifestation of God as the All-Merciful.

5. The other aspect of Divine manifestation may be understood by analogy with the sun’s particular manifestation on each thing according to the capacity of that thing. This is God’s particular manifestation on each thing with one or a few of His Names, with the other Names subordinated to them. This manifestation is the result of God’s being ar-Rahīm, translated as “the All-Compassionate,” and is called the manifestation of Unity (at-tajallī al-Ahadiyah). God embraces the whole of creation as ar-Rahmān (the All-Merciful), without discrimination between belief and unbelief, truth and falsehood, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, or good and evil; while as ar-Rahīm (the All-Compassionate), He has special mercy for faith, justice, truth, right, beauty and good, both in this world and, particularly, in the Hereafter. No one has any part in his coming into existence, the determination of his place or date of birth and death, race, color, physical features and the functioning of his body. These are all dependent on the absolute choice of God as the All-Merciful and, therefore, cannot be the grounds of superiority or inferiority—of discrimination among people. By contrast, the conscious inhabitants of the earth (jinn [see sūrah 46, note 10] and humankind) have a choice between belief and unbelief, justice and injustice, right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood—, as exercised by their free wills— and are, therefore, accountable for their preferences. Being ar-Rahīm, God helps those who prefer faith, right, justice, and good in this world and rewards them with eternal happiness in the Hereafter. But for ar-Rahmān (the All-Merciful), we would not have come into the world. But for ar-Rahīm (the All-Compassionate), we would not be able to use our free will to make the right preference, comprehend the marvelous works of God’s art, know what faith, religion and Prophethood are, or attain true, eternal happiness in Paradise.