Detailed Exegesis

Blessing (niʿma)

The root n-ʿ-m has many derivatives that trace back to a single original meaning, which is the pleasantness of life and the goodness of one’s state (ṭīb al-ʿaysh wa ḥusn al-ḥāl). Its opposite is buʾs, which means absolute hardship and difficulty. Since ḍurr, meaning an evil that befalls something, is an instance of buʾs and causes the loss of that pleasantness and the removal of goodness, it is sometimes used as the opposite of niʿma: “And if We let him taste blessing (naʿmāʾ) after hardship (ḍarrāʾ) has touched him, he will surely say, ‘The evils have departed from me’” (11:10). Otherwise, ḍurr is the opposite of nafʿ (benefit).

Niʿma on the pattern of fiʿla is a noun of kind (ism nawʿ) and indicates a specific kind of blessing, whose instances are numerous and varied: “And if you should count the favors of God, you could not enumerate them” (14:34), and “He has bestowed upon you His favors, [both] apparent and unapparent” (31:20). Niʿma on the pattern of fiʿla is a verbal noun (maṣdar) and, like naʿūma, means goodness of state: “And crops and noble sites, and the comfort (naʿma) wherein they were amused” (44:26-27), “Leave Me with [the matter of] the deniers, those of ease (ulī l-naʿma), and allow them respite a little” (73:11).

Inʿām, which means delivering blessing to another, is only used in cases where the recipient of the blessing is conscious, even though what reaches an unconscious being and suits its nature is also a blessing. The reason for this restriction is that a conscious blessed being has the ability to distinguish between beneficial and harmful things, while others lack such discernment and distinction.(370)

Maghḍūb

The single meaning of all the derivatives of the root gh-ḍ-b is intensity against another thing. Therefore, the hard and solid rocks of a mountain, due to the intensity and solidity they have against the one who uses them, are called ghaḍba. And the flaring up of the human soul and its departure from moderation toward severity and intensity is called ghaḍab (anger).

Ghaḍab is the opposite of ḥilm (forbearance). In narrations, anger that is in the way of falsehood has been described as a satanic fire that is ignited and flares up inside a person. Imām al-Bāqir (a.s.) said: “Indeed this anger is an ember from Satan that is ignited in the inside of the son of Adam. When one of you gets angry, his eyes turn red, his jugular veins swell, and Satan enters into him.”(371)

But ghaḍab in God Almighty is the same intensity and severity that is exercised in the punishment of the wicked and the disbelievers. Because being influenced and change of state, which are among the preceding stages of anger in humans, have no way in God, the Glorious.

Ḍāllīn

Ḍalāla (misguidance) is the opposite of ihtidāʾ (being guided), and iḍlāl (leading astray) is the opposite of hidāya (guidance): “I have certainly gone astray (ḍalaltu) then, and I was not one of those guided aright (al-muhtadīn).” (15:56) “Whoever is guided is guided only for [the benefit of] his own soul, and whoever goes astray (ḍalla), goes astray only to its detriment.” (17:15) And since hidāya means indication and guidance to the goal, iḍlāl is the lack of it.

Error, deviation from the truth, corruption, and the like are among the necessities of misguidance (ḍalāla), and are matters that occur as a result of not attaining guidance to the intended goal. The destination and goal that the guided person reaches and the misguided person is deprived of reaching is not limited to true goals, because the axis of guidance and misguidance is attaining the intended goal and objective or being deprived of reaching it, and objectives are sometimes true and sometimes actually false, even if they are true in the seeker’s opinion. Therefore, in the Noble Qur’an, misguidance has been used in both cases:

“Whoever ascribes partners to God has certainly strayed into far error” (4:116)

“The eminent among his people said, ‘Indeed, we see you in clear error’” (7:60)

Although what the wicked group said to their prophet was actually false, since it was true in their opinion, they considered abandoning it to be misguidance.

In the Noble Qur’an, misguidance has been used in various instances, such as:

Belief: “Whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.” (2:108)

Inner attributes: “Woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of God. Those are in manifest error.” (39:22)

Action: “Whoever of you does it has certainly strayed from the soundness of the way.” (5:108)

Absolute misguidance: “If You leave them, they will mislead Your servants” (71:27), “and teach them the Book and wisdom, although they were before in clear error.” (62:2)

The Determining Factor of Being Guided to the Path

This noble verse, which is the last verse of Sūrah al-Ḥamd, introduces divine blessing as the factor and cause of traversing the straight path by suspending the ruling on the attribute (which indicates causality). It means: Guide us to the path of those whom, when You blessed them, found the success to traverse the straight path.

The Glorious God has bestowed abundant blessings upon those who have incurred His wrath and those who have gone astray as well. However, the blessing mentioned in this noble verse is a special blessing. To explain it, we must answer the following three questions:

a) Who are those who have been given blessings?

b) What are the blessings that have been bestowed upon them?

c) What is the way and method of those who have received blessings?

The first and second points will be discussed in the exegetical section, while the third point will be covered in the subtleties and allusions of this verse.

Those Blessed in the Qur’an

In the final verses of Sūrah al-Ḥamd, guidance to the path of those blessed is requested, and the Noble Qur’an introduces them as follows:

“Whoever obeys God and the Messenger—those will be with the ones upon whom God has bestowed favor of the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs and the righteous. And excellent are those as companions.” (4:69)(372)

So what is meant by “those upon whom You have bestowed favor” (alladhīna anʿamta ʿalayhim) are these four groups whom God has granted the blessings of prophethood, truthfulness, martyrdom, and righteousness. The secret of their excellent companionship is that they are aware travelers who are successful in traversing the path. They never leave their fellow travelers alone or neglect them. Rather, they take the hands of their companions and lead them safely through the difficult passes and slippery slopes. So their companion on this path full of ups and downs is neither harmed by them, nor neglected by them, nor fearful and terrified of the difficult obstacles along the way.

Outward and Inward Blessings

What is pleasing and agreeable to the external or internal senses and the perceptive or motive faculties of man is called a blessing (niʿma). The Noble Qur’an considers all blessings to be from God, the Glorious: “And whatever blessing you have, it is from God” (16:53), and it also describes them as innumerable: “And if you should count the favors of God, you could not enumerate them” (14:34). Imām ʿAlī (a.s.) also says: “Those who count cannot count His blessings.”(373)

Blessings are either outward or inward and spiritual: “And He has lavished upon you His favors, [both] outward and inward” (31:20). Based on Qur’anic evidence and indications, the desired blessing in Sūrah al-Ḥamd is not an outward blessing, but an inward blessing through which the wayfarers, by being blessed with it, become among the people of the straight path and easily traverse a path narrower than a hair and sharper than a sword; for traversing this path is not possible for anyone without the inward divine blessing. This evidence, in brief, is as follows:

On the one hand, the Noble Qur’an considers outward blessings such as wealth and children to be the adornment of the life of this world: “Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life” (18:46), and on the other hand, it restricts their use to the life of this world: “The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children” (26:88). From these two verses, it can be deduced that what is the provision for the journey of the wayfarers on the path to the Real is the inward divine blessings.

Those who are blessed and benefit from inward blessings are the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous, and most of them did not benefit from outward blessings.

The very factor that causes people who are opposed to the blessed ones to be wrathful and astray is those outward blessings.

The Noble Qur’an considers the cause of the rebellion of a group of disbelievers to be their possession of wealth and children: “Because he is a man of wealth and children, when Our verses are recited to him, he says, ‘[These are] legends of the former peoples’” (68:14-15).

God also says to the Messenger of God (s.a.w.): “Leave Me and those who deny the truth, those who enjoy the blessings of life, and bear with them for a little while.” (73:11) He also speaks of the blessings that lead man to turn away and become arrogant: “When We bestow Our blessings on man, he turns away and draws aside.” (17:83) And He describes the Children of Israel, despite the many blessings they were given—“O Children of Israel, remember My blessings which I bestowed upon you” (2:40)—as humiliated and subject to God’s wrath: “They were afflicted with humiliation and misery, and they drew God’s wrath upon themselves.” (2:61) Regarding some of those who were destroyed, He says they enjoyed abundant blessings: “And leave the sea behind at rest, for they are a host destined to be drowned. How many gardens and springs did they leave behind, and cornfields and noble dwellings, and the bounties they enjoyed!” (44:24-27)

Therefore, material blessings that preoccupy man are either a trial and test, or a divine punishment, and as a result, they are a hindrance, not a means of guidance, and cannot be a provision and sustenance for the journey toward God.

From the above evidence, it becomes clear that in “those whom You have blessed” (anʿamta ʿalayhim), the blessings referred to are spiritual and inner blessings that have also been bestowed upon the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous, which the Noble Qur’an describes in various places.

Attribution of Blessing, Wrath, and Misguidance

In this noble verse, God divides people into three groups: those who have been blessed (munʿam ʿalayhim), those who have incurred wrath (maghḍūb ʿalayhim), and those who are astray (ḍāllīn). He only attributes the granting of blessings to Himself (anʿamta), but He does not attribute wrath and misguidance to Himself, even though the apparent context of the sentence would require it to be said: “not of those whom You have become angry with, nor of those whom You have misguided” (ghayr alladhīna ghaḍibta ʿalayhim wa lā alladhīna aḍlaltahum).

The Reason Behind the Change in Context

The secret behind this change in context is that nothing but goodness and mercy descends from the Holy Essence of God. He does not misguide anyone from the beginning, nor does He become angry with anyone. Rather, His misguidance and anger are a punishment, and it is the evildoers who go astray by their own bad choices and consequently become subject to divine wrath.

The Manifestation of Monotheistic Etiquette in the Words of Abraham (a.s.)

This monotheistic etiquette is also manifested in the words of the Friend of God, Abraham (a.s.), who attributes sickness to himself but healing and cure to God, the Glorified: “And when I am ill, it is He who cures me” (26:80). In contrast, it is due to the mischief of Satan that he attributes misguidance to God, the Glorified: “My Lord! Because You have sent me astray...” (15:39)

The Point of Repeating the Negation

The reason for the inclusion of the word “lā” (no) before “al-ḍāllīn” (those who go astray) and the repetition of the negation, even though apparently negation with the word “ghayr” (other than) would have been sufficient (“other than those who have evoked [Your] anger or those who are astray”), is that it negates all, not just the sum.

To explain, the negation of two attributes (such as anger and misguidance) is sometimes done by negating all and sometimes by negating the sum. If the sum is negated, its explicit meaning is that the combination of these two attributes (with the condition of being combined) is negated, and negating the sum is compatible with the presence of one of the two alone. However, if all are negated, there is no such problem, and negation with the word “ghayr” alone implies negating the sum, meaning it negates the attributes of anger and misguidance together (with the condition of being together). But repeating the negation with the word “lā” removes this illusion and negates all.

The Right Path and Misguidance in This World and the Hereafter

Seeking guidance to the straight path (ṣirāṭ mustaqīm) and negating those who incur wrath and go astray does not mean that in the system of existence, there are three paths: one straight and two deviant. Rather, there is only one path that the guided traverse directly, while others make it crooked: “Those who hinder [people] from the way of God and seek to make it crooked” (7:45). So deviation does not have an independent path, and the straight path is the only path that has been extended like a bridge over Hell or a path that passes through the fire of Hell. Humans have a duty not to make it crooked, and those who incur wrath and go astray have made that same path crooked. It is not the case that a crooked path exists and the wicked have taken it.

If there were no free, morally responsible being like the human, there would be no misguidance (ḍalāla) or wrath (ghaḍab). Only the human makes the path crooked, otherwise all beings are on the straight path and constantly engaged in worshipping and glorifying God: “There is not a thing but celebrates His praise, but you do not understand their glorification” (17:44), “Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and earth glorifies God, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each knows its [mode of] prayer and glorification” (24:41)(374) , “There is no animal on land, nor a bird flying with its wings, but they are communities like yourselves. We have not omitted anything from the Book. Then they will be mustered toward their Lord” (6:38). So in the system of the world, apart from the free, morally responsible being like the human, no being is disobedient or goes astray.

God has not created any crookedness in any of the worlds of existence. The Noble Qur’an says about the crookedness of human beings in this world: “Those who prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter and bar [people] from the way of God, seeking to make it crooked” (14:3). Those who (due to love of this world) choose the life of this world over the eternal life of the Hereafter and prevent others from the path as well, they make the path of God crooked and uneven; meaning that they oppose the legislative path (ṣirāṭ tashrīʿī) which is religion itself, not that they are traversing a crooked path that exists. So in the objective world, no crooked path has been created.

Regarding the entirety of religion and the Qur’an, it also says: “All praise belongs to God, who has sent down the Book to His servant and did not let any crookedness be in it” (18:1); there is no crookedness (iʿwajāj) in the Book of God, which is the entirety of religion.

And finally, on the Day of Resurrection, when the reality and interpretation (taʾwīl) of the Qur’an will be manifested: “the day its interpretation comes” (7:53), there will be no place for crookedness and deviation. The Messenger of God (s.a.w.) was asked about the fate of the mountains on the Day of Resurrection. God, the Glorified, answers: “Say, ‘My Lord will scatter them like dust, then leave it a level plain wherein you see neither any crookedness nor any curving’” (20:105-106). On that day, they will follow the summoner, without any deviation (ʿiwaj) in him (20:108).

Therefore, there is no crookedness in either the world, the religion, or the Day of Judgment, and it is man who, by his own hand, makes the straight path crooked for himself. For this reason, the end of the people of Hell is falling and plunging from the ṣirāṭ: “Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are deviating from the path.” (23:74)

Thus, the relationship between the path of misguidance (sabīl al-ghayy) and the straight path (ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm) is not one of contradiction, but rather the relationship of the absence and presence of a quality. That is, one is the existence of the ṣirāṭ and the other is its absence, not that one is the ṣirāṭ and the other is a path other than the straight path.

Reminder: As it became clear during the exegesis (tafsīr), the phrase “not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray” is to explain some of the negative attributes of those who have been blessed, and it means: those whom You have blessed are neither those who have evoked [Your] anger nor those who are astray, not that it is a restriction on the ṣirāṭ. This is because the word ṣirāṭ either means the straight path, as al-Rāghib has mentioned in his Mufradāt, or because in the previous sentence it was described with the attribute “straight” and is repeated with the definite article, the intended meaning would be the straight path specifically.

In any case, what is meant by “path” (ṣirāṭ) is specifically the way, and the straight path will never have any traveler other than the one who has been bestowed with blessings (munʿam ʿalayh). That is, it is impossible for one who is subject to wrath (maghḍūb ʿalayh) or one who is astray (ḍāll) to possess the straight path, such that the one praying would ask God for guidance to the straight path of the first group, i.e., those who have received blessings, not the straight path of those subject to wrath or those who are astray. Moreover, misguidance (ḍalāla), which is being astray, can never be combined with possessing the straight path. Therefore, as some of the early exegetes have said, “Not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray” (1:7) is an exaltation of “those whom You have blessed”(375). The textual evidence, which is the fact that the word “other than” (ghayr) takes the genitive case, confirms the above point, although some have recited it in the accusative case.

Of course, one who has been bestowed with blessings will never be subject to wrath or astray. However, the word “other than” (ghayr) in such cases, while conveying the meaning of contrast, also includes an emphasis on the preceding point, such as in: “They kill the prophets without right” (3:21, 3:112), and “chaste, not promiscuous” (4:24). For killing the prophets (a.s.) is certainly wrongful, and one who is chaste and guards their chastity is certainly not promiscuous or an adulterer. Therefore, in such cases, the term “other than” (ghayr) is used to emphasize the preceding content. Moreover, it may be referring to the state of the permanence of spiritual blessings and their not being transformed into vengeance, wrath, and misguidance.

The purpose is that the Qur’an’s approach in analyzing the attributes of perfection of divine men is sometimes to mention specifically their positive attributes, such as what has been mentioned in Sūrah al-Muʾminūn (verses 1-9) about the existential perfections of the faithful people, and what has been mentioned in Sūrah al-Maʿārij (verses 22-35) in remembering the positive attributes of the true worshippers. And sometimes it combines their positive and negative attributes, such as what has been mentioned in Sūrah al-Furqān (verses 63-74), some of which are to explain the positive attributes of God’s sincere servants and some to clarify their negative attributes. The apparent latter part of Sūrah al-Fātiḥa is also a combination of the positive and negative attributes of the travelers of the straight path.