You alone we worship, and to You alone turn for help.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (thee (alone) we worship), we turn to you as the only one god and we obey you; ((thee alone) we ask for help), we ask for your help in worshipping you and from you we obtain confidence in obeying you.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : you [alone] we worship, and you [alone] we ask for help: that is to say, we reserve worship for you [alone] by way of acknowledging your oneness (tawhīd) and so on, and we ask for [your] assistance in worship and in other things.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : you [alone] we worship…,that is, we submit to, and humble ourselves before, you alone. we recognise your lordship and we affirm your oneness, and you do we serve. from this word (naʿbudu) is derived the word ʿabd meaning ‘servant’. …and you [alone] we ask for help, that is, in what you have charged us with, which is [rightfully] yours, [and over which] you exercise your will (mashīʾa) and volition (irāda). moreover, knowledge and sincerity are due only to you. we are incapable of [accomplishing that with which you have charged us] except through aid (maʿūna) and steadfastness (tasdīd) that come from you, for there is no power or strength except that which comes from you.
