In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful.
Praise be to God, cherisher and sustainer of all.
Most gracious, most merciful,
Thee do we worship, and thine aid we seek.
Show us the straight way, the way of those
on whom thou bestowest grace,
those without wrath, who will not go astray.
The Qur’an is the central sacred text of Islam. “The Opening” (Al-Fatiha), the first verse of the Qur’an, is one of the essential affirmations of Islam, comparable to the Shema in Judaism and the Lord’s Prayer in Christianity. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthology, “Timeless Wisdom.”