Commentary · Quran
Surah 1: The OpeningThe Opening
If you don’t know me, my name is Rachel, and these are my scripture notes on the Quran. The ayat are presented sequentially in English and Arabic, followed by my commentary. Think of it as a living midrash: whenever I learn something new, I add a note. My notes draw from an eclectic range of ancient sources, both Jewish and Gentile. See my about page for more.
I’ve used Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall’s 1930 translation of the Quran’s meanings since it’s both public domain and very pretty.
Surah 1: The Openingسُورَةُ ٱلْفَاتِحَةِ
1In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
The first letter, بِ, corresponds to ב, the first letter of the Torah. This B sound is also the first letter of the New Testament. My mentor teaches that this is a mark indicating at least partial divine origin.
Genesis 1:1 – 1IN THE beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth.
1בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.
Matthew 1:1 – 1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
1Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, υἱοῦ Δαβίδ, υἱοῦ Ἀβραάμ.
A Sufi tradition says that everything found in the Quran is contained within this surah, this ayah, letter بِ, and – according to Ali (c. 600–661) – even the dot underneath.
al-Qunduzi, Yanabiʿ al-Mawadda 3.212 – Know that all the secrets of Allah, exalted is He, are in the heavenly scriptures; all that is in the heavenly scriptures is in the Quran; all that is in the Quran is in the Fatiha; all that is in the Fatiha is in the Basmala; all that is in the Basmala is in the ba of the Basmala; and all that is in the ba of the Basmala is in the dot beneath the ba. Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I am the dot beneath the ba.”
واعلم أن جميع أسرار الله - تعالى - في الكتب السماوية، وجميع ما في الكتب السماوية في القرآن، وجميع ما في القرآن في الفاتحة، وجميع ما في الفاتحة في البسملة، وجميع ما في البسملة في باء البسملة، وجميع ما في باء البسملة في النقطة التي هي تحت الباء. قال الإمام علي (ض): أنا النقطة التي هي تحت الباء.
This same idea appears in our Tikkunei Zohar. My mentor teaches that all springs forth from the dagesh in the letter בְּ, the primordial point of light.
Tikkunei Zohar 12b – The Holy Lamp arose and opened as before, and said: “And they that are wise shall shine”: these are the letters, all of which are contained in the letter ב of Bereshit. ב is a house, the house of the Sanctuary, where all the letters shine. Reishit is a point within its palace, like this: בּ. Of her it is said, “All glorious is the king’s daughter within.” Nine vowel points hang from her, and she is “their sapphire form,” the tenth of them.
קָם בּוֹצִינָא קַדִּישָׁא, פָּתַח כְּמִלְּקַדְמִין, וְאָמַר וְהַמַּשְׂכִּילִים יַזְהִירוּ אִלֵּין אַתְוָון, דְּכֻלְּהוּ כְּלִילָן בְּאָת ב' מִן בְּרֵאשִׁית, ב' אִיהִי בַּיִת, בֵּי מַקְדְּשָׁא, דְתַמָּן בָּהּ נָהֲרִין כָּל אַתְוָון, רֵאשִׁית נְקוּדָה בְּהֵיכָלֵיהּ, כְּגַוְונָא דָא בּ, עֲלָהּ אִתְּמַר כָּל כְּבוּדָּה בַת מֶלֶךְ פְּנִימָה, תֵּשַׁע נְקוּדִין תַּלְיָין מִינָהּ, וְאִיהִי סַפִּיר גִּזְרָתָם עֲשִׂירִית לוֹן.
2Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
2ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Worlds,ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ, plural, like heavens,הַשָּׁמַיִם.
We similarly call HaShem the “Master of the Worlds” in our morning prayers. Many scholars believe this is the same Semitic title.
Yoma 87b – And where does one say it? An individual says it after his prayer, and the prayer leader says it in the middle. What does one say? Rav said: “You know the secrets of the world.” And Shmuel said: “From the depths of the heart.” And Levi said: “And in Your Torah it is written, saying.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Master of the Worlds.”
וְהֵיכָן אוֹמְרוֹ? יָחִיד אַחַר תְּפִלָּתוֹ, וּשְׁלִיחַ צִבּוּר אוֹמְרוֹ בָּאֶמְצַע. מַאי אָמַר? אָמַר רַב: ״אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ רָזֵי עוֹלָם״. וּשְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר: ״מִמַּעֲמַקֵּי הַלֵּב״. וְלֵוִי אָמַר: ״וּבְתוֹרָתְךָ כָּתוּב לֵאמֹר״. רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר: ״רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים״.
Siddur, Shacharit – Lord of all the worlds! Not on account of our righteousness do we offer our supplications before You, but on account of Your abundant mercy.
רִבּוֹן כָּל הָעוֹלָמִים לֹא עַל צִדְקוֹתֵֽינוּ אֲנַֽחְנוּ מַפִּילִים תַּחֲנוּנֵֽינוּ לְפָנֶֽיךָ כִּי עַל רַחֲמֶֽיךָ הָרַבִּים,
3The Beneficent, the Merciful. 4Master of the Day of Judgment,
3ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 4مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
Mercy and Judgement, the same two attributes that open the Zohar.
Zohar 1:1a – Rabbi Hizkiah opened his discourse with the text: As a lily among thorns, etc. (S.S. 2, 2). ‘What’, he said, ‘does the lily symbolise? It symbolises the Community of Israel. As the lily among thorns is tinged with red and white, so the Community of Israel is visited now with justice and now with mercy; as the lily possesses thirteen leaves, so the Community of Israel is vouchsafed thirteen categories of mercy which surround it on every side.
רִבִּי חִזְקִיָּה פָּתַח, כְּתִיב, כְּשׁוֹשַׁנָּה בֵּין הַחוֹחִים. מָאן שׁוֹשַׁנָּה, דָּא כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל. (בגין דאית שושנה ואית שושנה), מַה שּׁוֹשַׁנָּה דְּאִיהִי בֵּין הַחוֹחִים אִית בַּהּ סוּמָק וְחִוָּר, אוּף כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אִית בַּהּ דִּין וְרַחֲמֵי. מַה שּׁוֹשַׁנָּה אִית בַּהּ תְּלֵיסַר עָלִין, אוּף כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אִית בַּהּ תְּלֵיסַר מְכִילָן דְּרַחֲמֵי דְּסַחֲרִין לַהּ מִכָּל סִטְרָהָא.
5Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help. 6Show us the straight path, 7The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
5إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ 6ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ 7صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
Reminds me of the 2 paths from the Didache, the earliest known Christian catechism.
Didache 1:1-2 – 1There are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, and there is a great difference between the two Ways. 2The Way of Life is this: “First, thou shalt love the God who made thee, secondly, thy neighbour as thyself; and whatsoever thou wouldst not have done to thyself, do not thou to another.”
1Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσί, μία τῆς ζωῆς καὶ μια τοῦ θανάτου, διαφορὰ δὲ πολλὴ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο ὁδῶν. 2Ἡ μὲν οὖν ὁδὸς τῆς ζωῆς ἐστιν αὕτη: πρῶτον ἀγαπήσεις τὸν θεὸν τὸν ποιήσαντά σε, δεύτερον τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν: πάντα δὲ ὅσα ἐὰν θελήσῃς μὴ γίνεσθαί σοι, καὶ σὺ ἄλλῳ μὴ ποίει.
Although the surah doesn’t name anyone directly, a popular Sunni hadith in Tirmidhi’s (824–892) collection identifies “those who earn Thine anger” with Jews and those who went “astray” with Christians.
Jami at-Tirmidhi 2954 – Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna and Bundar told us, saying: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar told us: Shuʿba told us, from Simak ibn Harb, from ʿAbbad ibn Hubaysh, from ʿAdi ibn Hatim, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: “The Jews are those upon whom is anger, and the Christians are astray.” And he related the hadith at length.
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى، وَبُنْدَارٌ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ سِمَاكِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ، عَنْ عَبَّادِ بْنِ حُبَيْشٍ، عَنْ عَدِيِّ بْنِ حَاتِمٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " الْيَهُودُ مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالنَّصَارَى ضُلاَّلٌ " . فَذَكَرَ الْحَدِيثَ بِطُولِهِ .