And His words, “not of those who have incurred wrath nor of those who are astray (7) [al-Fātiḥah: 7],” contain a delineation of the two endpoints of deviation from (1) the straight path. To veer toward one end is to fall into misguidance—the corruption of knowledge and belief; to veer toward the other is to incur wrath, whose cause is the corruption of intention and action.

Thus, the opening of the sūrah is mercy, its middle is guidance, and its conclusion is grace. A servant’s share of grace is in proportion to his share of guidance, and his share of guidance is in proportion to his share of mercy. In the end, everything returns to His grace and His mercy. Grace and mercy are inseparable from His lordship; hence He is ever Merciful and Bestowing. This in turn is necessitated by His godhood: He is the true God, even if deniers reject Him and idolators set up equals beside Him.

Whoever realizes the meanings of al-Fātiḥah—in knowledge, understanding, practice, and spiritual state—has obtained the fullest portion of perfection, and his servitude rises to the servitude of the elect, whose rank is above that of the ordinary worshippers.

And Allah is the One whose help is sought. (2)