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)
- the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings,3 not of those who have been condemned [by Thee], nor of those who go astray!4
- 3 I.e., by vouchsafing to them prophetic guidance and enabling them to avail themselves thereof.
- 4 According to almost all the commentators, God's "condemnation" (ghadab, lit., "wrath") is synonymous with the evil consequences which man brings upon himself by wilfully rejecting God's guidance and acting contrary to His injunctions. Some commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari) interpret this passage as follows: "... the way of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings - those who have not been condemned [by Thee], and who do not go astray": in other words, they regard the last two expressions as defining "those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy blessings". Other commentators (e.g., Baghawi and Ibn Kathir) do not subscribe to this interpretation - which would imply the use of negative definitions - and understand the last verse of the surah in the manner rendered by me above. As regards the two categories of people following a wrong course, some of the greatest Islamic thinkers (e.g., Al-Ghazali or, in recent times, Muhammad Abduh) held the view that the people described as having incurred "God's condemnation" - that is, having deprived themselves of His grace - are those who have become fully cognizant of God's message and, having understood it, have rejected it; while by "those who go astray" are meant people whom the truth has either not reached at all, or to whom it has come in so garbled and corrupted a form as to make it difficult for them to recognize it as the truth (see 'Abduh in Manar I, 68 ff.).
- The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath23, and who go not astray24.
- 23 Note that the words relating to Grace are connected actively with Allah; those relating to Wrath are impersonal. In the one case Allah's Mercy encompasses us beyond our deserts. In the other case our own actions are responsible for the Wrath - the negative of Grace, Peace, or Harmony.
- 24 Are there two categories? - those who are in the darkness of Wrath and those who stray? The first are those who deliberately break Allah's law; the second those who stray out of carelessness or negligence. Both are responsible for their own acts or omissions. In opposition to both are the people who are in the light of Allah's Grace: for His Grace not only protects them from active wrong (if they will only submit their will to Him) but also from straying into paths of temptation or carelessness. The negative ghayr should be construed as applying not to the way, but as describing men protected from two dangers by Allah's Grace.
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The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.
— M. Habib Shakir -
The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
The path of those whom Thou hast favoured. Not of those on whom is indignation brought down, nor of the astray.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
the Path of those upon whom You have favored, not those upon whom is the anger, nor the astray. (Amen please answer)
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed,not of those who incurred wrath, nor of the astray.
— Ayub Khan -
The path of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy favours, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure and those who have not gone astray.
— Sher Ali -
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!
— Muhammad Asad -
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those against whom Thou art wrathful, nor of those who are astray.
— Arthur Arberry -
The way of those whom You have favoured,{{9}} who did not incur Your wrath, who are not astray.{{10}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi