the right way with kindness until one reaches the goal.8 How could these ideas be expressed in small and simple words, suitable for prayer, in any other language? Indeed, this petition, which is the essence of the whole institution of Islāmic prayer, would lose its real significance by being translated into any other language.
Thus the Fātiḥah, being the only essential portion of the Holy Qur’ān which must be repeated in every rak‘ah of a prayer, may rightly claim to be the guiding principle of a Muslim’s life and a true index of his mentality. The main principles underlying the Fātiḥah may be considered briefly here. These are, firstly, the desire to give praise to the Divine Being under all circumstances, for the chapter opens with the words “All praise is due to Allāh”. The Muslim has to come to prayer five times a day whatever the circumstances may be. There may be occasions when he is in distress, has suffered a reverse or a defeat, has a friend or near relative in distress, when someone very dear to him has just passed away and he is under the burden of a great bereavement, yet in all these conditions he is required to give praise to God Who brings about all these conditions, just as he would do had he received a blessing or some great benefit from God. The attitude of mind thus produced is to live in perfect peace with one’s environment, neither to be carried away by joy, nor give way to dejection or depression. It is an attitude of mind which keeps a man steadfast in pleasure as well as pain, in joy as well as sorrow.
The second and third main ideas which determine a Muslim’s mental attitude towards things are contained in the words Rabbi-l-‘ālamīn, the Nourisher unto perfection of all the worlds or all the nations. This attribute of God brings to man the comfort of knowing that whatever may happen to him, whether he receives a blessing or faces disaster, he must still be sure that he is being led on to perfection through these different stages. The addition of the words al-‘ālamīn, all worlds or all nations, opens up his mind and widens the sphere of his love and sympathy not only towards all men, to whatever nation or creed they may belong, but also to the whole of God’s creation. The man who recognizes that God is the Nourisher
8 Al-hidāyah al-rashād wa-l-dalālah bi-luṭf-in ilā mā yūṣilu-ila-l-maṭlūb. (TA.).