Tafsir Fatiha by Ibn Atā’ol-lāh Al-Eskandari

Discussion    Join   


Allah Subhāna-Hu (All Glory for Hu) has said:

“The/All Hamd (Praise) for Allah the Rabb (Master Administrator, Lord) of the universes”

Allah was aware of the inability of Hu's (ITs) creation with regards to Hamd (Praising) for Hu (IT), for in Azal (Sempiternity) Hu praised Hu, and when Hu created the creation Hu required from them the praising and therefore said: “The/All Hamd (Praise) for Allah the Rabb (Master Administrator, Lord) of the universes” or “'say' all praise for Allah…” meaning the Al-Hamd (Praise) that was issued by Hu to Hu is unbefitting for another, whereby that is the application/consequence of the Arabic article Al (The). (No one can praise Allah in any due measure therefore Allah praised Allah eternally and issued words of the Al-Hamd for us to echo such vitiated human praise in this temporal world)

And I heard him (his sheikh) saying about the verse:

“You we do worship, and You we do seek”

“You we do worship” is Shariah (Prophetic Ways). (Through Shariah we learn the proper mannerism to worship when we are upon the Divine Path by following the prophets)

“You we do seek” is Haqiqa (Absolute True Reality). (Dara: Every moment, every heartbeat, every exhalation & inhalation, every need to be fulfilled, every love yearned for, every loss mourned and in general everything that is ventured upon was to seek after ‘You’ and that is a reality a fact a truth similar to the sun that is in the sky in front of us. We do not fully understand the sun nor do we have any control on it but we feel the light and warmth no matter who we are and no matter where we are.)

“You we do worship” is Islam (Submission: That every moment you are filled with cognizance that this moment is precisely how Allah wished everything to be, and you are willing to be as Allah wishes you to be, your heart at ease with whatsoever Allah may choose for you and your loved ones.)

“You we do seek” is Ihsān. (Seeking You as if we see You and if we cannot see You seeking you as if You staring at us.)

“You we do worship” is Ibāda (Serfdom, Servitude, Adoration, Devotion).
“You we do seek” is ‘Ubūdiat (Bondage).

“You we do worship” is Farq (Partition). (As soon as we start worshiping or serving, the very involvement of our own Self causes the partition)

“You we do seek” is Jam’ (Togetherness). (Similar to being carried on a vessel down a river towards the destination (Hu (IT)), nothing of our own Nafs (Self) making any difference in this navigation, we are carried via togetherness)

Know that Allah has been merciful to you by ITs Wudd (Illimitable Irreducible Love) and has made you one of the responsibles/upholders of ITs covenant, Allah demands from ITs slaves to worship/serve IT, and requires from them to register as such within their Nafs (Self) with spoken words as with knowledge.

And requires from them to single Hu (IT) out as a matchless singleton (Fard).

And requires from them to discipline/organize Ibāda (Serfdom, Servitude, Adoration, Devotion) within all their limbs i.e. Zāhir (Surface Manifest) and within the Haqiqa (Absolute & True Reality) of the Bāten (Hidden Interior) of their Wujud (Beingness).

And when the slave of Allah stands to worship Allah with deeds & actions, Hu (IT) requires from him to acknowledge Hu via spoken words as well: For this was a covenant between him and Hu. (And this is so) Since there are times when the heaviness of Taklif (Burden, Responsibility) lets his Nafs (Self) slip away from Ibāda (Serfdom, Servitude, Adoration, Devotion) and thus the Divine Authority stands unwavering upon the slave with the endowment of a confession confessed for Ibāda (Serfdom, Servitude, Adoration, Devotion): “You we do worship”—Solely acknowledged for Hu (IT).

Moreover Hu (IT) requires from all the salves to enforce Ibāda (Serfdom, Servitude, Adoration, Devotion) on everything of theirs either Zāhir (Surface Manifest) or Bāten (Hidden Interior) and for this reason the plural term ‘we’ used as in “You we do worship” and not the singular term ‘I’ to indicate the unification of Zāhir (Surface Manifest) and Bāten (Hidden Interior) into one ensemble. (And ‘I’ of the Nafs (Self) cannot be magnified in Presence of Allah Almighty. And thus the plural term signals the unimportance and invalidity of I-ness in Divine Presence and the term ‘we’ signifies the I-less approach towards Hu (IT))

“You we do seek” is for the slaves not to attempt to worship their own Nafs (Self) so in summation mode: “You we do worship” + “You we do seek”.

End.

© 2006-2002,  Dara O. Shayda, Hind Rifai M.D.