A section on His words,

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful ^{1We have followed the editor of the Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition in numbering the words, In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful (bismi’Llāhi’l-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm), known as the Basmala, as the first verse of the first sūra. The inclusion of the Basmala as a verse of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa is obligatory according to the Shāfiʿī school, while more generally it is thought not to be incorrect to begin any sūra with the Basmala except Sūrat al-Tawba. Since the verses in the MSS are not numbered, it is not possible for us to know whether or not Tustarī considered it to be one of the verses of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa. In any case, it was customary for exegetes to devote a separate section to their commentary on the Basmala.}

Abū Bakr [al-Sijzī] reported that Sahl was asked about the meaning of [God’s words], In the name of God the Compassionate (al-Raḥmān), the Merciful (al-Raḥīm). He replied:

The ‘bā’ stands for ‘bahāʾ Allāh’ (the magnificence of God, Mighty and Majestic is He), the ‘sīn’ stands for ‘sanāʾ Allāh’ (the resplendence of God), and the ‘mīm’ stands for ‘majd Allāh’ (the Glory of God), Mighty and Majestic is He.^{2These being the three consonants forming the construct bi ismi meaning ‘in the name of’.} Allāh is the Greatest Name, which contains all His names. Between its ‘Alif ’ and ‘Lām’ there is a cryptic letter, something of an unseen from an unseen to an unseen, a secret from a secret to a secret, a reality from a reality to a reality, of which no one can attain an understanding except those who are pure of all blemishes, and who take what is permissible according to what is stipulated by their faith.^{3This is probably the closest that Tustarī comes in his Tafsīr to the content of the cosmological treatise on letters that has been attributed to him, the Risālat al-ḥurūf. See IT, p. xxiv; the dissertation of Gaafar, ch. 4, and Garrido Clemente, ‘El Tratado de las Letras’.} Al-Raḥmān is a name which contains a quality from the aforementioned cryptic letter between the Alif and Lām. Al-Raḥīm is the One who inclines to His servants in kindness by providing for them, this being a ramification (farʿ) [of the significance of this name], while in origin it is His initiation (ibtidāʾ) [of all things], as a mercy (raḥmatan), related to His pre-eternal knowledge.^{4Alternatively, we might read it as: ‘this being a ramification (farʿ), while in origin (aṣl) the initiation [of creation] is a mercy (raḥma) connected to His pre-eternal knowledge’. Either way, this passage indicates that Tustarī understands the creation as a manifestation of God’s quality of being the Merciful, as is confirmed by the explanation that follows it.}

Abū Bakr added:

In other words, through the zephyr of His grace, God originated whatever He willed in the kingdom of creation, out of mercy because He is the Merciful. ʿAlī b. Abū Ṭālib رضي الله عنه said: ‘Al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm are two names of compassion, one of which [signifies] greater compassion than the other;^{5lit. ‘are two compassionate names (ismān raqīqān), of which one is more compassionate (araqq) than the other’. In his commentary on the Basmala, Ṭabarī explains that of the two forms derived from the verbal root r-ḥ-m, al-raḥmān denotes a stronger quality than al-raḥīm. According to a tradition narrated in Ṭabarī’s commentary on the authority of al-ʿArzamī, ‘[the divine name] al-Raḥmān [denotes mercy] to all creatures, while the name al-Raḥīm [denotes mercy] to the believers.’ According to another tradition narrated on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khuḍrī, ‘Jesus, the son of Mary, said: “Al-Raḥmān is the Merciful in the next world as well as in this world; al-Raḥīm is the Merciful in the next world.”’ See Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān, published under the title Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān, ed. Maḥmūd Muḥammad Shākir and Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir, vols. 1–16, incomplete (Cairo, 1955–69). vol. 1, pp. 148–9; trans. John Cooper, The Commentary on the Qurʾān by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (Oxford, 1987), pp. 55–6.} by them God, Exalted is He, has expelled despair (qunūṭ) from the believers among His servants.’

Praise be to God^{1See above, IC, p. 8, n. 36 concerning the numbering of the verses of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa.}

Sahl said:

The meaning of ‘Praise be to God’ (al-ḥamdu li’Llāh) is ‘thanks be to God’ (al-shukru li’Llāh), [for] gratitude towards God is obedience (ṭāʿa) to Him. Obedience to Him is guardianship (wilāya)^{2That is, obedience is a way of manifesting our gratitude, and our gratitude is increased through obedience, while obedience itself is a manifestation of God’s patronage and protection. See also above, IC, p. 2, and IT, p. xxxix. The relationship between gratitude and divinely bestowed increase is discussed again later, in Tustarī’s commentary on 14:7.} from Him, Exalted is He, and thus God, Exalted is He, has said: ‘Your patron (walī) is God only, and His Messenger, and the believers...’ [5:55] God’s patronage can only be fully attained by becoming free of all other than Him.

The meaning of Lord of the Worlds is: the Lord of all created beings and the One who rears and fosters them (murabbī); He is the One who presides over their affairs and who rectifies and orders things for them, even before they and their acts are brought into existence. He deals with them according to His pre-eternal knowledge of them, as He wills and for whatever purpose He wills, wishes, rules, and decrees, regarding that which is commanded and that which is forbidden, and they have no lord except Him.

The Master of the Day of Judgement:

That is, the Day of Reckoning.

You [alone] we worship…,

That is, we submit to, and humble ourselves before, You alone. We recognise Your lordship and we affirm Your oneness, and You do we serve. From this word (naʿbudu) is derived the word ʿabd meaning ‘servant’.^{1Or ‘slave’.} …And You [alone] we ask for help, that is, in what You have charged us with, which is [rightfully] Yours, [and over which] You exercise Your will (mashīʾa) and volition (irāda).^{2Gaafar (PhD thesis, p. 224) explains that in Tustarī’s theology, God’s Will (or ‘Uncreated Will’, mashīʾa), is associated with His Knowledge, while God’s Volition (or ‘Creative Will’, irāda) is associated with His Omnipotence: ‘The mashīʾa is the gate of Knowledge (bāb al-ʿilm); the irāda is the gate of Omnipotence (bāb al-qudra).’ See also Kalām Sahl ibn ʿAbd Allāh, ed. Gaafar, in Jaʿfar, Min al-turāth al-Tustarī, Part 2, p. 202; MS Köprülü 727, f. 72b.} Moreover, knowledge and sincerity are due only to You. We are incapable of [accomplishing that with which You have charged us] except through aid (maʿūna) and steadfastness (tasdīd) that come from You, for there is no power or strength except that which comes from You.

(Guide us to the straight path.)^{1This verse (1:6) itself is not written out either in the printed edition or in the MSS, though the question and Tustarī’s response which follow the comment on 1:5 clearly refer to 1:6.}

He [Sahl] was asked, ‘Has not God already guided us to the straight path?’ He replied:

That is so, but this refers to seeking more from Him, as He has said: and with Us there is yet more [50:35]. [Thus] what is meant by His words Guide us is: ‘Support us with Your aid (maʿūna) and empowerment (tamkīn)’.

On another occasion he said that Guide us (ihdinā) means:

Guide us (arshidnā) to the religion of Islam, which is the way to You, through assistance from You, which is insight (baṣīra), for we cannot be guided except through You, just as he [Moses] said: ‘Perhaps my Lord will show me the right way’ [28:22], that is, ‘Guide me to pursue the path that leads to Him’.

I heard Sahl relate on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sawwār from Sufyān, who heard it from Salīm, who was told by Abū al-Jaʿd from Thawbān, who narrated that the Messenger of God ﷺ said:

God says: ‘I have divided the prayer between Me and My servant into two halves. Half of it is for Me and the other half is for My servant, and My servant gets what he asks for.’ Thus, when the servant says, Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, God, Exalted is He, says, ‘My servant has praised and thanked Me.’ When he says, the Merciful, the Compassionate, [God says], ‘My servant has extolled Me’. And when he says, Master of the Day of Judgement, [God says], ‘My servant has glorified Me. These verses are for Me and for My servant is what he asks for [in the verses that come] after, as when he says, You [alone] we worship, and You [alone] do we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path, until the end of the sūra.’ God, Mighty and Majestic is He, says: ‘These verses are for My servant and My servant shall receive what he asks for.’^{2Ibn Māja, Sunan (Beirut, 1995), ‘Al-Adab: Bāb thawāb al-Qurʾān’; Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī, Sunan (Beirut, 1988), ‘Kitāb al-Ṣalāt’; Tirmidhī, Sunan, ‘Kitāb Tafsīr al-Qurʾān’.}

Sahl said:

The meaning of ‘My servant has glorified Me’ here is: ‘He has attributed abundant beneficence (iḥsān) and munificence (inʿām) to Me’.

Sahl related on the authority of Mujāhid:

Āmīn is one of the names of God, Exalted is He.^{3Āmīn is traditionally said following the last verse of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa when it is recited during the canonical prayer, or as part of other prayers or invocations. When one person makes a supplication on behalf of and in the presence of others, it is likewise customary for the congregation to repeat Āmīn (Amen).} Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهم said, ‘The Christians have never envied you anything as much as your saying Āmīn.’^{4Regarding this saying of Ibn ʿAbbās, the editor of the Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition cites here another version of the tradition, listed in ʿAbd al-Raʿūf al-Munāwī and ʿAbd al-Salām al-Suyūṭī, Fayḍ al-qadīr: sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaghīr min aḥādīth al-bashīr al-nadhīr (Cairo, 1938), vol. 5, p. 441, in which it is said to have been the Jews rather than the Christians who are envious of the Muslims’ saying ‘Āmīn’.} Muḥammad b. Sawwār related from Ibn ʿUyayna from ʿAmr b. Dīnār on the authority of Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh رضي الله عنه, who related that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, ‘Keep to the straight path, [though] you will not be able to encompass [all good actions]. Know that the best of your actions is prayer, and [indeed] only a believer observes ablution carefully. Whenever the imam says, Nor [the path] of those who go astray [1:7], you should say, ‘Āmīn’, for God is pleased with the one who says it, and He accepts his prayer and responds to his supplication.’

Al-Zuhrī related from Ibn al-Musayyab on the authority of Abū Hurayra رضي الله عنه that the Prophet said, ‘When the imam says, Nor [the path] of those who go astray, say ‘Āmīn’, for truly the angels say ‘Āmīn’, and the one whose pronouncement of ‘Āmīn’ is simultaneous with that of the angels will be forgiven for all his previous sins.’