Surah Al-Fâtihah 1:5

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

1:5 Na‘budu نَعْبُدُ is derived from ‘abadaعَبدَ and means to serve, adore, obey, venerate, submit, devote, accept the impression of a thing. It also means to impress Divine Attributes (Lisân, Tâj, Râghib). According to Ibn ‘Abbâs, the meaning of commanding word A‘buduأعْبدوْا, “Serve (Me)!” (2:21) is in the sense of “Know (Me)!” It also means, “Be lowly towards Me!” No being can be lowly towards another unless the first knows the second. The real worship is to impress Divine Attributes (Râghib; 2:138). The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said each act performed for the sake of Allâh and to please Him is an act of worship (Bukhârî). Thus, the idea of worship is not limited to the ritual Prayers, counting beads in the hand and fasting. Nasta‘înنَسْتَعِين is derived from ‘âna, meaning to aid or assist (Lane; Tâj).

With the words “You alone do we worship and You alone do we implore for help” إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ, the worshipper declares as if, “O Lord! We have adopted You alone for our worship, preferring You over all, and we adore nothing save Your countenance, and we believe in Your Unity. Allâh has placed the phrase, “You alone do we worship” before the phrase, “You alone do we implore for help” as a reminder that the worship takes precedence over imploring. He has placed these words after mentioning His four Attributes. In doing so, He has reminded us of His Graces of Rabûbîyyat, Rahmânîyyat, Rahîmîyyat, and Mâlikîyyat before supplication. Thus, the worshipper begins, as if he says, “Lord! I thank You for my seeking help from Your Providence and Sustenance (Rabûbîyyat), and I thank you for Your bounties with which You have favoured me long before my existence, and for those You gave to me without asking You for them (Rahmânîyyat). Now I invoke Your Rahîmîyyat. Give me the strength to offer my Prayers before You and to place my petitions before you. I hope for a good reward (Mâlikîyyat) for my deeds and efforts, which I have done in Your Name and for Your sake, seeking to please You; rewards you bestow on those supplicating, praying and begging for help from You.” These words thus urge us towards the grateful appreciation of gifts that have been granted, and towards eagerness for whatever is perfect and excellent, and towards the steadfast supplication required. They also urge us towards non-reliance on one’s own competence and ability and towards throwing oneself before the Holy One in hope and expectancy, persisting in worship in all humility with glorification and praise, in a state between fear and hope.

The statement, “You alone do we implore for help,” urges us towards confession and the acknowledgement that we are weak and cannot carry out the duties of worship without Allâh’s special help, and that we cannot seek the ways of spiritual pleasure without His support. It also demands from us that we discard pride and arrogance and hold fast to the Power and Might of Allâh when we experience difficulties and hardships. When we say, “You alone do we implore for help,” it is as if the Lord of Glory were saying, “O My servant! Regard yourself as dead and then seek life from Me, for I give life” (cf. 3:27). Let not a youth take pride in his vigor, nor let not an elder rely on his staff, nor a wise one feel elated with his intelligence, nor a scholar trust in the accuracy of his knowledge, the soundness of his understanding, or the keenness of his intellect. Let not a worshipper depend for support neither on his inspiration nor on the fervor of his prayers. Allâh does what He pleases, rejects whom He pleases, and admits among His chosen ones whom He pleases (cf. 3:26).

“You alone do we implore for help” also warns us of the allure of the evil-prompting ego (Nafs al-Ammârah), which endangers our souls like a vicious reptile who swallows up its victim. There is no power and no strength except from the Power of Allâh. It is His Power that annihilates the satans in us. Allâh teaches His servant these words, which are a source of hope for him, and says, in effect, “O My servants! Beg of Me with humility and in lowliness.” For His help we have to struggle to get rid of all prideful behaviour meant to impress others, confusing ideas about Allâh’s Lordship, superstitions, dogmas, and dark thoughts.

With the words “You alone do we implore for help” we are urged to come forward, in our obedience to Him, with the utmost effort, standing upright in Prayer, responding to His Call. We spare no pains in our striving, in observing His commands, and in seeking His pleasure. With these words we are seeking His help and His protection against pride and self-glorification, and we beg of Him to grant us the strength that would lead us to win His pleasure. We are firm in our obedience to Him and in His worship, and we implore that He writes us down among those who submit to Him.

When we implore, “You alone do we worship and You alone do we implore for help”, we also mean to say, “We adore and worship You, making use of all the resources and means that You have granted us. You have granted us a tongue that can glorify You, ears that can listen to Your words, feet to walk on the right path, hands to give generously, and intellect to reflect. How wonderful are these gift to render thanks.” This is one significance of the plural form “we worship” and “we implore for help.” This is our confession that no part of our body has neglected His gifts The use of the first person plural also conveys that this prayer is for us as well as for the benefit of all our near and dear ones and even for all of humanity. Thus, Allâh urges the believers towards mutual accord, unity, and love.

He alone is capable of true worship to whom the love of Allâh draws so close that his own self is excluded altogether. The impression of His magnificence on the heart should be so deep that the entire world should appear to be dead in contrast with Him; every fear should derive from Him alone, and all pleasure should be in His love, and all joy in seclusion with Him, and no comfort without Him. However, this state cannot be achieved without the special help of Allâh, the Most Excellent in His Powers and Attributes. Therefore, the Supreme Being taught us to say, “You alone do we implore for help”; that is, we cannot carry out worship in the true sense unless we receive special help from Allâh. Nevertheless, we can beg Him for the gift of keenness, eagerness and readiness of heart and overflowing faith and joy. We can then beg Him for light to embellish our hearts with the decor of Truth and the garments of delight, so that we may win the certainty of Faith and arrive at the ocean of Reality. To worship Allâh as the real object of all Love is true saintliness, which is the highest degree a human being can reach, but this is unattainable except with His help. It is attained when His magnificence is imprinted on the heart and the heart is filled with His Love and relies totally on Him and chooses Him alone and prefers Him to all else, making His remembrance its only goal.

Allâh created us, and sent us a law and prescribed for us rules while informing us of the penalties for breaking them. The primary object of all this is not that we should attain to salvation. We have been created for perpetual servitude of our Creator. The object of our religious life is eternal serfdom to Allâh, salvation being its necessary, associated attainment.

Freedom from sin is also not the object of law and the ordinances; freedom from sin is also a concomitant of the true objective of our life. The words of Allâh, the Exalted, “You alone we worship and You alone do we implore for help” indicate that all good fortune is comprised in putting oneself in accord with the Attributes of the Lord of the worlds. The essence of worship is to take on the complexion of the worshipped One and that is in the eyes of the righteous, the culmination of Supreme Grace.

A worshipper is not a worshipper in truth unless his character reflects the Attributes of the gracious God (Rahmân). Therefore, one feature of true worship is that a kind of providence reflecting the Rabûbîyyat (Divine Providence) of the Lord of Honor should take its birth in the worshipper, and in a similar way the Attributes of Rahmânîyyat (Graciousness), Rahîmîyyat (Compassion and special Mercy), and Mâlikîyyat (Mastership of Requital) should be reflected in him (2:138). This is the right path, which we have been commanded to seek, and this is the way that we have been urged to hope for from the Bounteous Lord of open Grace.

When the servant of Allâh says, “You alone do we worship and You alone do we implore for help,” with all his sincerity and loyalty deeply immersed in Divine remembrance and Love, then Allâh, the Sublime, causes a wide stream of righteousness to stream forth, which flows down onto his heart filling it with love and tranquillity. Though he approaches Allâh with a paltry offering, Allâh, the Exalted, bestows on him the precious gift of His attention. The servant of Allâh is then granted a volume of insights and verities and such strength that no one can stand in opposition to him. He attains the excellence of siddîq (the righteous and the truthful). Raised to the rank of siddîqîyyat he worships Allâh to the extent of his capacity and potential, in full realization of his feebleness and nothingness, he adheres to truthfulness, and he turns away from every type of pride and falsehood.

When he utters the words: “You alone do we worship,” that in itself is worship of high quality. Whether he utters the words, “You alone do we implore for help,” or not, Allâh, the Sublime, the Source of all righteousness, helps him and reveals to him the high tenets and verities of siddîqîyyat (4:69).