IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

Praise be to God, Lord of Creation; the Compassionate, the MercifuI; Master of the Day of Judgement. You alone we worship, and to You alone we pray for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those whom You favoured: not of those who have incurred Your wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.

It befits man to commence any task in the name of God, his master. God is the source of all mercy and compassion. His blessings are conti­nually descending upon creation. To commence any undertaking in His name is to pray that God, in His infinite mercy, should come to one’s assistance and bring one’s work to a successful conclusion. This is man’s acknowledgement that he is God’s servant, and also brings divine assurance of success.

The Quran has a special way of expressing a believer’s inner senti­ments in the best possible words. The Invocation of God and the opening chapter of the Quran constitute a supplication of this nature. The feel­ings which are naturally aroused in one after discovering the truth are given the form of words in these lines.

Man’s being is a great gift of God. It is so precious to him that he would never exchange his eyes or hands, or any part of his body, for any kingdom of the world. Even this basic gift of God is more precious to man than a kingdom is to kings. Similarly, when man looks at the world around him, he cannot fail to notice God’s power and mercy in evidence everywhere. With what care God watches over the world! Everything has been made to fit in with man. This observation shows one that the great cosmic machine cannot be in vain. One realizes that there must come a day when the ungrateful will be taken to task and the grateful rewarded. One spontaneously entreats God in words to this effect: “Lord, You are Master of the Day of Judgement. I have submitted to You and humbly seek Your help; have mercy on me. Lord, show us the path that is, to You, the true path. Enable us to tread the path of Your chosen servants. Help us to avoid the path of those who have gone astray, and the path of those who have incurred Your wrath due to their obstinacy.

God requires His servant to live his life with such feelings and emotions. The opening chapter of the Quran is a miniature picture of such a believer, and the rest of the Quran an enlargement of this picture.