صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.
Introduction
This is āyah 7 of Sūrat Al-Faatiha (The Opener), the 5th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 1. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 5 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Faatiha (1)
The path of those whom Thou hast blessed, not of those who incur wrath, nor of the misguided. It has been said that this is the road and traveling of the Companions of the Cave. The faithful want to say, “O Lord, complete for us our road without us, just as You were bountiful toward the Companions of the Cave and placed Your caress upon them. You placed them on the cushion of intimacy and You Yourself undertook to pull them. You said, 'Go into this cave and sleep well, for We have taken your sleep to be as the worship of the world's folk.' O Lord, give us a portion of that blessing and caress! Just as You with Your bounty completed their work without them, so also with Your bounty complete our work without us. For, whatever we do is to our loss, and whatever You do is the foundation of exaltedness in the two worlds.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, we cannot complete this work without You, nor do we have the gall to complete it away from You. Whenever we fancy we have arrived, we fall back in the bewilderment of our account. O Lord, where will we find again that day when You belonged to us and we were not? Until we reach that day again, we will be in the midst fire and smoke. If we find that day again in the two worlds, we will profit. If we find Your being for ourselves, we will be pleased with our own nonbeing.” It has also been said, “Those whom Thou hast blessed with the submission and the Sunnah.” He tied the submission and the Sunnah together because, as long as the two are not joined, the ser- vant will not have the straightness of the religion. It is mentioned in the traditions that Shāfiʿī said, “I saw the Real in a dream. He said to me, 'Ask a favor of me, O son of Idrīs!' I said, 'Make me die in the submission.' God said, 'Say, “And in the Sunnah.” Ask for both from Me.'” This is because there is no submission without the Sunnah, and whatever is with the Sunnah is the true religion. Hence MuṣṬafā said, “There are no words without deeds, no words and deeds without intention, and no words, deeds, and intention without hitting the mark in the Sunnah.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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