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PART I
CHAPTER I
THE OPENING
(Al-Fátiḥah)
Revealed at Mecca
(7 verses)
Abstract:
1. Allah, the Lord of the whole creation, brings the creation to its goal of completion. 2. His loving beneficence and mercy are exercised both before and after man makes himself deserving of them. 3. His dealing with man is as that of a master with his servants, and therefore His law of requital is characterized by forgiveness. 4. Men's dependence on Him and His assistance of man. 5—7. Prayer for being kept always on the right or the middle path and not to be diverted to either side.
General Remarks.
The Fátiḥah or the Opening is known under various other names. It is spoken of as Sab’an minal Mas̲áni or the Seven Oft-repeated Verses in the Qur-án itself (15:87) because its seven verses are constantly repeated by every Muslim in his prayers at least thirty-two times a day. It is spoken of as the Fátiḥat-ul-Kitáb or the Opening of the Book in a saying of the Holy Prophet in which it is said that "No prayer is complete without the recitation of Fátiḥat-ul-Kitáb" (AD, Tr.). Hence it is also called Súrat uṣ Ṣalát, i.e. the chapter of Prayer, being essential to every prayer whether performed in congregation or in private. It is also called Súrat-ud-Du’á, i.e. the chapter of Supplication, because the entire chapter is a supplication or a prayer to the Great Master, and because as a prayer it not only occupies the highest place among the prayers of other sacred books, but also among those taught by the Holy Qur-án itself. It is also called Ummul-Kitáb, i.e. the Basis of the Book, because it contains the whole of the Qur-án as it were in a nutshell. Some of the other names given to this chapter are the Praise, the Thanksgiving, the Foundation, the Treasure, the Whole, the Sufficient, the Healer, and the Healing.
Al-Fátiḥah or Fátiḥat-ul-Kitáb contains seven verses in a single section, and was revealed at Mecca, being without doubt one of the earliest revelations. Muir, who divides the whole of the Meccan revelation into five periods, places the Fátiḥah in the first period—though he is mistaken in placing it before even the 96th chapter, for which there is overwhelming evidence as being the first revelation. It is, of course, impossible to give the exact date or even the exact order in which the various chapters were revealed, but there is not the least doubt that the Fátiḥah must be placed among the earliest revelations. It is referred to in 15:87 as the Seven Oft-repeated Verses, a name by which this chapter is generally known, and the 15th chapter, which is undoubtedly Meccan, can by no means he placed among the latest Meccan revelations. Again, it is a fact that the Fátiḥah formed an essential part of the Muslim prayers from the earliest days when prayer was