Surah Al-Fatiha

The surah's big idea

We praise Allah, worship Him alone, and ask Him for guidance

One branch per meaning, one node per verse. Reveal the branches one at a time; listen to each branch and repeat it before the next.

ReciterOpen the lessons

We begin in Allah's name
Verses 1
Open the lesson ←
1. ١
  بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
This surah is called Al-Fatiha, the Opening, because the Quran opens with it, and we read it in every unit of our prayer. We begin reading in Allah's name and ask for His help. «Allah» is our Lord's name, given to no one else; «Ar-Rahman» is the One whose mercy covers all creation, and «Ar-Rahim» is especially merciful to the believers.
All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds
Verses 2–4
Open the lesson ←
1. ٢
  ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
2. ٣
  ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
3. ٤
  مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
We praise Allah and thank Him for His perfect attributes and His many blessings on us. He is the Lord of the worlds: He created all creation and looks after it with His blessings. He is the Most Merciful, whose mercy covers everything, especially merciful to the believers, and He alone is the Master of the Day of Resurrection, the day deeds are rewarded.
You alone we worship, You alone we ask for help
Verses 5
Open the lesson ←
1. ٥
  إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
O Allah, we worship You alone and no one else, and we ask You alone for help in all our affairs, because everything is in Your hands and no one else owns any of it.
Guide us to the straight path
Verses 6–7
Open the lesson ←
1. ٦
  ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ
2. ٧
  صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path and keep us on it until we meet Him. It is Islam, the clear path that leads to Allah's pleasure and His Paradise. It is the path of those Allah has blessed, the prophets and the righteous, not the path of those who knew the truth and did not act on it, nor of those who strayed from it. After Al-Fatiha we say «Amin», which means: O Allah, answer our prayer.