(6) --------------- pg 36 --------------- * * * Sura Al-Fatihah (The Opening) No.

(6) --------------- pg 36 --------------- * * * Sura Al-Fatihah (The Opening) No. 1 (Verses 1-7) " In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful." " (All) praise is (only) Allah's, the Lord of the Worlds." " The Beneficent, The Merciful." " Master of the Day of Judgement." " Thee (alone) do we worship and of Thee (only) do we seek help." " Guide us (O' Lord) on the Straight Path." " The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy bounties, not (the path) of those inflicted with Thy wrath, nor (of those) gone astray." --------------- pg 37 --------------- " In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful." Commentary : It is a custom among most people of the world to recite the name of one of their great and very beloved personalities that the worthiness of their work might be elevated.

That is, they relate that work to that personality from the very beginning of their endeavour. Among all beings, the One Who is eternal is only Allah, and, therefore, everything and every activity should begin with His Holy Name. It should be enveloped in His Light, and help should be always asked only from Him. So, in the first verse of the Qur'an, we recite Bism-illah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim', ( In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful ).

This action should not be done only with the tongue, but it should be done truly and meaningfully, because this kind of connection with Him sets work in the right direction and keeps it far from any deviation. For this very reason, such a work will certainly be successful and blessed. The holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.), in a tradition, has said : " Any important work that begins without mentioning / bismillah /, will remain invalid.

" (7) After narrating this tradition, Hadrat Aeir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali (a.s.) added: " For every action that a person wants to do, he/she should recite / bismillah-ir-rahman-ir-rahim /, which means that he/she begins the action with the Name of Allah, and every action that begins with the Name of Allah is blessed.

" (8) On the excellence and importance of / bism-il-lah /, it is narrated from Ali-ibn-Musa-r-Rida (a.s.), who has said thus: " (The holy phrase) Bism-il-lah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim' is closer to the Exalted Name of Allah' than the pupil is to the white of the eye ".