THE OPENING AL-FĀTIḤAH ( الفاتحة )

1
بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
TRANSLITERATION

bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi
TRANSLATION

In the Name of Allah,
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
2
الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ العالَمينَ
TRANSLITERATION

al-ḥamdu li-llāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīna
TRANSLATION

All praise belongs to Allah,1
Lord of all the worlds,
In muslim parlance the phrase al-ḥamdu lillāh also signifies ‘thanks to Allah.’
3
الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
TRANSLITERATION

ar-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi
TRANSLATION

the All-beneficent, the All-merciful,
4
مالِكِ يَومِ الدّينِ
TRANSLITERATION

māliki yawmi d-dīni
TRANSLATION

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
TRANSLITERATION

ʾiyyāka naʿbudu wa-ʾiyyāka nastaʿīnu
TRANSLATION

You [alone] do we worship,
and to You [alone] do we turn for help.
6
اهدِنَا الصِّراطَ المُستَقيمَ
TRANSLITERATION

ihdinā ṣ-ṣirāṭa l-mustaqīma
TRANSLATION

Guide us on the straight path,
7
صِراطَ الَّذينَ أَنعَمتَ عَلَيهِم غَيرِ المَغضوبِ عَلَيهِم وَلَا الضّالّينَ
TRANSLITERATION

ṣirāṭa lladhīna ʾanʿamta ʿalayhim ghayri l-maghḍūbi ʿalayhim wa-lā ḍ-ḍāllīna
TRANSLATION

the path of those whom You have blessed1
—such as2 have not incurred Your wrath,3
nor are astray.4