Most High for beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds; and ﴿straight﴾ means that which contains no crookedness.

Lessons:

1 — One lesson derived from the verse is that, after seeking Allah’s aid in worship, a person turns to Him, Glorious and Exalted, asking Him to guide him to the straight path. This is because worship necessarily requires sincerity, as indicated by His words, ﴿You alone we worship﴾; assistance by which one gains strength to worship, as indicated by His words, ﴿and You alone we ask for help﴾; and adherence to the Shariah, as indicated by His words, ﴿Guide us to the straight path﴾, for the ﴿straight path﴾ is the Shariah brought by the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.

2 — Another lesson derived from the verse is the eloquence of the Quran, for the preposition after ﴿Guide us﴾ has been omitted. The benefit of this omission is that the phrase encompasses a request for both kinds of guidance: guidance through knowledge and guidance through divine enablement. This is because guidance is of two kinds: guidance through knowledge and instruction, and guidance through divine enablement and righteous action. The first consists merely of showing the way. Allah, Glorious and Exalted, has guided all people in this sense, as He says, ﴿The month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed as guidance for mankind﴾ [al-Baqarah: 185]. The second includes being granted divine enablement to accept guidance and follow the Shariah, as He says, ﴿This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for the God-fearing﴾ [al-Baqarah: 2]. Some people may be deprived of this guidance, as He says, ﴿As for Thamūd, We guided them, but they preferred blindness to guidance﴾ [Fussilat: 17]. Here, ﴿We guided them﴾ means that We made the truth clear to them and directed them to it, but they were not granted divine enablement.

3 — Another lesson derived from the verse is that there are two kinds of path: straight and crooked. Whatever accords with the truth is straight, as Allah Most High says, ﴿And that