that is straight—the path of those You have blessed, not those who have incurred Your anger, nor those who have gone astray,’ He says, ‘These are for My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.’”
Some of the early generations said: Allah, Mighty and Majestic, revealed one hundred and four books and gathered their knowledge into the four Scriptures: the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Criterion. He gathered the knowledge of these four into the Quran, the knowledge of the Quran into the Mufassal section, the knowledge of the Mufassal into al-Fātihah, and the knowledge of al-Fātihah into His words:
“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”
Every deed a servant performs that is not obedience to Allah, worship, and righteous action is futile. This world is cursed, and everything in it is cursed except what is for Allah—even if, through such a deed, a person gains leadership and wealth. The utmost that one seeking leadership can attain is to become like Pharaoh, and the utmost that one amassing wealth can attain is to become like Qārūn. In Surah al-Qasas, Allah has related accounts of Pharaoh and Qārūn containing lessons for people of understanding.
Any deed in which Allah does not assist the servant will neither come to pass nor be of benefit. Whatever is not accomplished through Him will not occur, and whatever is not done for Him will neither benefit nor endure. He therefore commanded the servant to say:
“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”
The servant has “two states” with regard to what is decreed: a state before the decree takes effect, and “a state” afterward. Before the decreed event, he must seek Allah’s help, rely upon Him, and supplicate to Him. When the decreed event occurs independently of his own action, he must bear it patiently or be content with it. If it results from his own action and is a blessing, he praises Allah for it; if it is a sin, he seeks His forgiveness for it.
He also has “two states” with regard to what he is commanded to do: a state before the action, consisting of the resolve to comply