Surah Al-Fatihah: meaning, tajweed and how to memorise it

Al-Fatihah verse by verse

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿١﴾

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾

ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ﴿٣﴾

مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ ﴿٤﴾

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾

ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٦﴾

صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ ﴿٧﴾

Meanings are our plain-English rendering. Arabic text: Tanzil (Uthmani, Hafs).

What it means

The surah moves in three steps: praise of Allah (verses 1–4), a promise of worship and reliance on Him alone (verse 5), and a request for guidance (verses 6–7). In a well-known hadith, Allah says He has divided this surah between Himself and His servant, answering each part as it is recited (Sahih Muslim 395). That is why it is both a prayer and a summary of the whole Quran.

Tajweed points to get right

• Stopping at the end of each verse, as the Prophet ﷺ recited it, holding the final vowel 2, 4 or 6 counts in ٱلرَّحِيمِ and ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ (madd when stopping).
• Sun letters: ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ is read ar-rahman, the lam silent (sun and moon letters).
• Heavy letters such as the ص in ٱلصِّرَٰطَ and the ض in ٱلضَّآلِّينَ (tafkheem).
• The six-count madd in ٱلضَّآلِّينَ, a necessary madd (madd lazim).
• The shaddah in إِيَّاكَ: dropping it changes the meaning, so it must be pronounced clearly.
• Distinguishing ٱلْحَمْدُ from a light ه: the ح comes from the middle of the throat (makharij).

How to memorise it correctly

Because you will recite it for the rest of your life, learn it with a teacher if you can. Listen to a careful reciter, learn one verse a day for a week, and recite it to someone who can correct each letter. Then add a short surah from the last 10 surahs so you can pray (see which surahs to recite in salah and how to pray salah). Its names and place in the Quran are covered in all 114 surahs.