بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE (1)
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds, (2)
الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace, (3)
مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ
Lord of the Day of Judgment! (4)
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Thee alone do we worship; and unto Thee alone do we turn for aid. (5)
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
Guide us the straight way – (6)
صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ
the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings, not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray! (7)
- ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,2
- 2 In this instance, the term "worlds" denotes all categories of existence both in the physical and the spiritual sense. The Arabic expression rabb - rendered by me as "Sustainer" - embraces a wide complex of meanings not easily expressed by a single term in another language. It comprises the ideas of having a just claim to the possession of anything and, consequently, authority over it, as well as of rearing, sustaining and fostering anything from its inception to its final completion. Thus, the head of a family is called rabb ad-dar ("master of the house") because he has authority over it and is responsible for its maintenance; similarly, his wife is called rabbat ad-dar ("mistress of the house"). Preceded by the definite article al, the designation rabb is applied, in the Qur'an, exclusively to God as the sole fosterer and sustainer of all creation - objective as well as conceptual - and therefore the ultimate source of all authority.
- Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer20 of the worlds;
- 20 The Arabic word Rabb, usually translated Lord, has also the meaning of cherishing, sustaining, bringing to maturity. Allah cares for all the worlds He has created (see n. 1787 and n. 4355).<br/>There are many worlds - astronomical and physical worlds, worlds of thought, spiritual world, and so on. In every one of them, Allah is all-in-all. We express only one aspect of it when we say: "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." The mystical division between (1) Nasut, the human world knowable by the senses, (2) Malakut, the invisible world of angels, and (3) Lahut, the divine world of Reality, requires a whole volume to explain it.
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Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
— M. Habib Shakir -
All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
All praise unto Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
Praise be to God, the Lord of the World,
— Ayub Khan -
All praise is due to God alone, Lord of all the worlds.
— Sher Ali -
ALL PRAISE is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds,
— Muhammad Asad -
Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being,
— Arthur Arberry -
Praise{{2}} be to Allah, the Lord{{3}} of the entire universe.
— Abu'l Ala Maududi