Tafsir of Al-Fatihah 1:5

"Iyyāka" (إياك): Iyyā is a detached pronoun for the accusative case. The suffixes attached to it—the kāf, hā’, and yā’—in expressions like iyyāka (You), iyyāhu (Him), and iyyāya (Me), serve to indicate address, absence, and the first person, respectively. They have no grammatical position (i‘rāb), just as the kāf in ara’ayta-ka (have you seen?) has no grammatical position. They are not pronominal nouns; this is the view of al-Akhfash and the position held by the verifiers (al-muḥaqqiqūn). As for what al-Khalīl narrated from some Arabs—"When a man reaches sixty, then iyyāhu and iyyā the young women"—it is an anomalous usage that cannot be relied upon.

The fronting of the object (al-maf‘ūl) is intended for exclusivity (ikhtiṣāṣ), as in His saying:

• "Say: Is it other than Allah that you command me to worship?" (Az-Zumar: 64)
• "Say: Is it other than Allah that I should seek as a Lord?" (Al-An‘ām: 164)

The meaning is: We single You out for worship, and we single You out for seeking aid.

It has been recited as iyyāka (with a light yā’), ayyāka (with a fatha on the hamza and a shadda), and hayyāka (by changing the hamza to a hā’). Tufayl al-Ghanawī said: "So 'hayyāka' and the matter which, if its resources are vast, its outlets become narrow for you."

"Al-‘Ibādah" (Worship): It is the ultimate degree of humility and submissiveness. From this comes the expression "a garment of ‘abdah" when it is at the peak of thickness and strength of weave. Therefore, it is not used except for submission to Allah the Exalted, for He is the Master of the greatest blessings, and thus is worthy of the ultimate degree of humility.

If you ask: Why was the shift made from the third-person pronoun to the second-person pronoun? I say: This is called iltifāt (turning/shift) in the science of rhetoric (‘ilm al-bayān). It may shift from absence to address, from address to absence, or from absence to the first person, as in His saying:

• "Until, when you are in the ships and they sail with them..." (Yūnus: 22)
• "And Allah is the One who sent the winds, so they stir up clouds, then We drove them..." (Fāṭir: 9)

Imru’ al-Qays employed three shifts in three verses: "Your night is prolonged with antimony, and the carefree one sleeps while you do not sleep. And he spent, and she spent a night like the night of the one with the eye-sore. And that is from news that came to me, and I reported it from Abū al-Aswad."

This is according to their custom of artistic variation in speech and their dexterity in it. When speech is moved from one style to another, it is more refreshing for the listener's energy and more awakening for their attention than keeping it in a single style. Sometimes, these positions have specific benefits.

Among the benefits specific to this place is that when He mentioned the One worthy of praise and attributed to Him those great attributes, knowledge became attached to a Known One of great status, worthy of praise and the ultimate degree of humility and seeking aid in important matters. Thus, that Known One, distinguished by those attributes, was addressed: "You alone, O You whose attributes are these, we single out for worship and seeking aid; we do not worship other than You, nor do we seek aid from other than You." This makes the address more indicative that worship belongs to Him due to that distinction, without which worship is not deserved.

If you ask: Why was seeking aid (isti‘ānah) coupled with worship? I say: To combine that by which the servants draw near to their Lord with that which they seek and need from His direction.

If you ask: Why was worship placed before seeking aid? I say: Because presenting the means before requesting the need makes them more deserving of having the request answered.

If you ask: Why was the seeking of aid left unrestricted? I say: So that it encompasses everything in which aid is sought. It is best that it refers to seeking aid from Him and through His success (tawfīq) in performing worship. His saying "Guide us" (ihdinā) then becomes an explanation of what is requested of aid, as if it were said: "How shall We aid you?" and they replied: "Guide us to the Straight Path." This is better because of the coherence of the speech, where one part takes hold of the other.

Ibn Ḥubaysh recited "nasta‘īn" (we seek aid) with a kasra on the nūn.