Moreover, worship in its fullest sense includes seeking help, but not conversely. Everyone who worships Allah with complete devotion seeks His help, but the reverse is not true: someone pursuing personal aims and desires may seek His help in satisfying those desires. Worship is therefore more complete and perfect, which is why it constitutes the Lord’s portion. Seeking help is part of worship, but not conversely. Seeking help is asking of Him, whereas worship is seeking Him. Worship proceeds only from someone sincere, whereas both the sincere and the insincere may seek help. Worship is His right, which He has made binding upon you, whereas seeking help is asking for assistance in worship. This expresses the gracious bounty He bestows upon you; fulfilling His right takes precedence over seeking His bounty. Worship is gratitude for His blessings upon you, and Allah must be thanked, whereas His assistance consists in what He does for you and the success He grants you. When you commit yourself to His worship and submit to its bonds, He helps you fulfil it. Thus, that commitment and submission become a means of obtaining His help. The more completely a servant worships Him, the greater the help Allah grants him.

Servitude is accompanied by two forms of assistance: assistance beforehand, enabling the servant to commit himself to it and fulfil it, and assistance afterwards, enabling him to undertake further worship. This continues until the servant meets his death. Furthermore, “You alone we worship” is for His sake, while “You alone we ask for help” is through Him. What is for His sake takes precedence over what is through Him, because the former relates to His love and pleasure, whereas the latter relates to His will. What relates to His love is more perfect than what relates to His will. The entire universe is subject to His will: angels and devils, believers and disbelievers, acts of obedience and acts of disobedience. What relates to His love, however, is their obedience and faith. Thus, the disbelievers fall under His will, while the believers enjoy His love. For this reason, nothing that is for Allah’s sake will ever remain in the Fire. Everything in it, however, exists through Him, Most High, and by His will.

These subtle insights reveal the wisdom behind placing “You alone we worship” before “You alone we ask for help.”

As for placing the One worshipped and the One whose help is sought before the two verbs, this expresses their reverence for Allah by placing His name before their actions. It also conveys emphasis and particular concern for Him, and indicates exclusivity, known as restriction. Its force is therefore: we worship none but You, and we seek help from none but You,