Surah Al-Fatihah 1:5: You alone we serve, You alone we ask.

1:5

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ

Iyyaka naAAbudu waiyyaka nastaAAeenu

It is You we worship and You we ask for help.

Word by word

إِيَّاكَYou Alone
نَعۡبُدُwe worship
وَإِيَّاكَand You Alone
نَسۡتَعِينُwe ask for help

Al-Fatihah · 1:5Makkah

You alone we serve, You alone we ask.

The middle line, shared between Allah and you

The two halves meet

You we worshipwhat I give

and

You we ask for helpwhat I need

Where help comes from

worship Him, rely on meprayer, then panic

worship and help togetherHe gives what was sought

This is the turning point of the surah. In the hadith of the divided prayer, Allah says of this verse: This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asked for. Worship and asking for help are joined.

You pray, then spend the night scrolling job sites in a panic, as if everything rests on you. Or you ask everyone for help except Him. Worship goes one way, reliance another. This verse ties them together in one breath.

I pray to Allah, but in practice I lean on my own plans.

The One I worship is the One I lean on, and He promised to answer.

Try this

Before you ask anyone for help with something today, ask Allah for it first, in your own words.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help (5)

Allah says, 'This is between Me and My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he sought.' When he says,