Detailed Exegesis

The meaning of Iyyā-ka

Iyyā-ka is a separate object pronoun that has been placed before its verb (in this case, naʿbudu or “we worship”) to convey exclusivity (ḥaṣr). Apart from the important point that will be considered regarding the station (maqām), there is also the precedence of the worshipped (maʿbūd) over the worshipper (ʿābid) and worship (ʿibāda). As will become clear in the course of the discussion, pure tawḥīd necessitates the exclusivity of the Witnessed (mashhūd) in the worshipped, to the extent that neither the worshipper nor his worship is seen, in order to avoid both the pitfall of trinity (tathlīth) in the Witnessed or duality (tathniya) in it.

The meaning of Naʿbudu

ʿAbd refers to a human being who is owned by another. If we abstract this word from human characteristics, it refers to a conscious being that is owned by another. In this sense, it applies to all conscious beings: “There is no one in the heavens and the earth but that they come to the All-Merciful as a servant (ʿabdan)” (19:93). The word ʿibāda also conveys this meaning, although changes occur in its meaning based on various derivations and different contexts. Some lexicographers have said that the root meaning of ʿubūdiyya is submission (khuḍūʿ),(259) but this is the lexical meaning of the word, not the meaning itself, because khuḍūʿ is transitive with the preposition li (as in “submission to something”), such as in: “their necks stayed bowed to it in submission” (26:4), while the word ʿibāda (“to serve…” or “to worship…”, without the need for a preposition to take an object) is already itself transitive. So ʿibāda does not mean khuḍūʿ.

Worshipping God is to present and demonstrate one’s state of being owned by the Lord, and that is why it is incompatible with arrogance: “Indeed those who are disdainful of My worship will enter Hell in utter humility” (40:60).

The meaning of Nastaʿīnu

Istiʿāna is to seek assistance (maʿūna) and aid (ʿawn), and ʿawn means absolute support and help.

The verbs muʿāwanat, musāʿadat, muẓāharat, and muʿāḍadat all mean to help, but each one has a specific connotation in mind. For example, an action that a group of people perform with their forearms (sāʿid) is called musāʿadat. Similarly, if they do it with their upper arms (ʿaḍud), it is called muʿāḍadat. And if they stand back to back (ẓahr) to lend each other strength, it is called muẓāharat. These terms are derived from body parts. However, in ʿawn and muʿāwanat, only strengthening is intended, without regard to any other characteristic, and therefore it is interpreted as help and assistance in the most absolute sense.

The shift from third person to second person:

In the opening verses of Sūrah al-Ḥamd, the speech was in the third person, and in the final part, which begins with the verse under discussion, it is in the second person and in the present tense. This change of style in literary sciences (ʿilm al-badīʿ) is called a shift from third person to second person (iltifāt min al-ghayba ilā l-khiṭāb) and is merely a literary embellishment to beautify the speech, and its reins are also in the hands of the speaker. The speaker, in order to create variety in the speech and adorn it, sometimes assumes a person to be absent and sometimes addresses them directly.

However, in this noble verse, the shift from third person to second person is not merely a literary embellishment so that its reins are in the hands of the speaker, and he can assume God Almighty to be absent or present at his own discretion. Rather, the reins of the matter are in the hands of the addressee.

As we explained at the beginning of the chapter, understanding and internalizing the Beautiful Names has the effect of calling the absent human into the presence of God. If it is proven to someone that God, the Glorified, is the possessor of all existential perfections (Allāh), has absolute lordship over all contingent realms of existence (Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn), His absolute mercy overshadows everything (al-Raḥmān), and He has a special mercy for the believers and those traversing His path (al-Raḥīm), and finally His boundless ownership becomes manifest on the Day of Judgment (Mālik Yawm al-Dīn), and no being other than Him is worthy of submission and address, and then one brings faith in all these teachings, such a person who was absent until now has come from absence into presence and sees himself in the presence of God, the Glorified, and becomes worthy of address. So the difference is in the speaker who has come from absence into presence, not the Addressee who is never absent; but one who did not understand or accept these Beautiful Names is not worthy of address and does not have the right to stand in the presence of God, for he is absent, even though God is the Absolute Manifest.

Proofs for limiting worship and seeking help to Him alone:

The noble verse “You [alone] we worship, and You [alone] we ask for help” (1:5) clearly signifies the exclusivity of worship and seeking help in God, the Glorified. The Beautiful Names of God mentioned in the previous verses—Allah, Lord of the Worlds (_Rabb al-_ʿĀlamīn), the All-beneficent (al-Raḥmān), the All-merciful (al-Raḥīm), and Master of the Day of Retribution (Mālik Yawm al-Dīn)—not only serve as the middle term of proofs for establishing praise and its exclusivity to God, the Glorified, but also as the middle term of proofs for the exclusivity of worship and seeking help in Him.

For example, using the name Allah, a proof can be formulated as follows: The sacred essence of God encompasses and contains all existential perfections,(260) and such a perfect being is the sole object of worship and the sole source of help in all the worlds of existence. Therefore, worship and seeking help are exclusive to Him. Similarly, each of the other Beautiful Names mentioned at the beginning of the chapter serves as the middle term of a proof for the exclusivity of worship and seeking help in God.

The difference between the proofs mentioned above is that some, such as those whose middle terms are (comprehensiveness of perfection, absolute lordship, all-encompassing mercy, and special mercy), are concerned with the active system of the world of creation and the emanation of existents from the source of existence. Others, such as the proof whose middle term is the ownership of the Day of Retribution, are concerned with the teleological system and the return of existents to God, the Glorified. Of course, the return has stages, the final stage of which is in the Greater Resurrection. Otherwise, some stages of the teleological system are also realized before the Greater Resurrection.

Some verses of the Noble Qur’an also provide a proof that pertains to both the system of agency and the system of finality, such as: “And to God belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and to Him returns the entire affair. So worship Him and rely upon Him, and your Lord is not unaware of what you do.” (11:123) Not only the apparent aspects of the heavens and the earth, but also their hidden and inner aspects belong to God, and the entire affair returns to Him. Thus, everything is from Him and toward Him, and therefore not only humans, but every existent being should say: “Indeed we belong to God, and indeed to Him we will return.” (2:156)

It is possible that the meaning of the return of the affair to God is the return of the management and administration of the affairs of the cosmic system. In any case, only God, who in the arc of descent is the owner of the interior and exterior of the heavens and the earth, and in the arc of ascent all affairs return to Him, is worthy of worship. Therefore, at the end of this verse, the first part of which expresses the system of agency and the final part of which pertains to the system of finality, it is stated with the fāʾ of inference: “So worship Him and rely upon Him.”

Whether a human being is a monotheist or an atheist, they are ultimately weak and in need: “Mankind was created weak.” (4:28) However, the monotheist knows God as the fulfiller of their needs, while the atheist considers nature to be the remover of their needs. The meaning of this noble verse is that since the reins of affairs in descent and ascent are in the hands of God, the Glorified, seek refuge only in Him in worship and reliance.

In the system of existence, no existent being can remain stationary in its place and not move toward God, nor can it choose another path for its existential journey that does not end in divine love or wrath. Now, an existent being that must inevitably journey, it is fitting that it returns to its original place, which is the embrace of divine mercy.

The phrase “And your Lord is not unaware of what you do” at the end of the aforementioned verse is also a proof that the worship of the worshippers and the reliance of those who rely on God are all preserved. God’s not being unaware of the worship and reliance of His servants is both a factor in encouraging people to worship and rely on Him, and a proof that their worship and reliance are preserved.

In some verses of the Noble Qur’an, in addition to the comprehensiveness of perfections and lordship, the creatorship of God has also been placed as the middle limit of the argument for the necessity of worship and reliance and its confinement to God: “That is God, your Lord; there is no god but He, the Creator of all things, so worship Him, and He is the Disposer of all things.” (6:102); A human being must worship his Lord and Creator and rely on Him, and God is the only Lord and Creator of man; so He is the only one to be worshipped and the only support for man.

Reminder: The noble verse “You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help” has many literary and mystical points and subtleties, such as: shifting from the third person to the second person, using the singular pronoun in “You alone” (iyyāka), conveying exclusivity by placing the object first, using the plural form of the verbs “we worship” (naʿbudu) and “we ask for help” (nastaʿīnu), repeating “You alone” (iyyāka), expressing the exclusivity of seeking help after the exclusivity of worship, etc. Some of these points were mentioned in the exegetical discussion, and some will be examined in the section on the subtleties and allusions of this verse, and we will briefly point out some others:

1. The secret of using the singular pronoun in “You alone” (iyyāka) is that God has no partner and, based on the etiquette of monotheism, and contrary to customary etiquette and formalities, we use the singular pronoun “You alone” (iyyāka), not the plural “You all” (iyyākum), so as not to imply polytheism.

2. To prove the exclusivity of worship and seeking help only from God, the word “iyyāka” must be repeated, and two exclusivities cannot be established with one “iyyāka”. This is because if it is said: “iyyāka naʿbudu wa nastaʿīn” (You alone we worship and from You alone we seek help), it means that the totality of worship and seeking help, with the attribute of being a totality, is exclusive to God. However, we seek to prove the exclusivity of all [worship and seeking help], not only the exclusivity of their totality.