What does “wa iyyakum" mean?

Sources

• ✓ 1:5 · Al-Faatiha

  1:5 · Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

  إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ

  Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.

• ✓ Majma al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an on 1:5

  Shia

  Majma al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an · 1:5

  Recitation variants: None explicitly mentioned for this verse in this passage. Language: The term 'worship' (عبادة) in linguistics signifies submission or lowliness. For example, a paved road (طريق معبد) is one that is smoothed or leveled due to frequent tread. The poet Tarafa said: "They contended with freedmen who are saved, and I followed * with a duty, duty upon a paved path and with a paved camel." The term 'paved camel' refers to one coated with tar. A servant is called so because of his humility and obedience to his master. The seeking of help (الاستعانة) means to request assistance. Expressions such as 'I sought his help,' or 'he sought help from me' are used. Grammar (Parsing): Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Sari al-Zajaj explains that the word 'Iyyaka' is in the accusative case because the verb acts upon it, and the letter 'ka' in 'Iyyaka' is in the genitive case due to the annexation of 'Iya' to it. 'Iya' is a pronoun in the accusative, but it appears as added to other pronouns, for example, in sentences like "Iyyaka Darabta" (I struck you), "Iyaha Darabta" (I struck him), or "Iyyaya Hadathata" (You spoke to me). If one said "Iya Zaid Hadathata" it would be improper because it singles out a proper noun instead of a pronoun. Al-Khalil reported from the Arabs that when a man reaches age sixty, they say "Fiyyahu wa Iya Ash-Shiwab" (Both him and the old age). This is the position of al-Zajaj. Sheikh Abu Ali al-Farsi opposed this view, stating that 'Iya' is not an apparent pronoun but an implied pronoun, evident by its changing form and inability to remain fixed in nominative and genitive states. Unlike explicit pronouns that overtly carry diacritical markings unaffected by adjacent elements, 'Iya' differs from its outward form, indicating it is an implied pronoun rather than explicit. Al-Siraj narrated from al-Mubarrad, from Abu al-Hasan al-Akhfash, that it is a singular implied pronoun that alters its ending similar to how other pronoun endings alter based on the number of pronouns involved. The letter 'ka' in 'Iyyaka' is like the 'ta' in 'Dhalika' — it indicates addressing only, not a grammatical case, and thus it has no grammatical position. My own statement: The same judgment applies to 'Iyaya,' 'Iyyana,' 'Iyaha,' and 'Iyahu' — being particles attached to 'Iya.' The 'ya' in 'Iyaya' indicates first person speaker, and the 'ha' in 'Iyaha' indicates the third person feminine but does not represent the absent person themselves. You establish the accusative case for 'Iya' because you might say: "Iyyaka nafsaka ra'aytu" (I saw you yourself), "Iyaha nafsaha darabta" (I struck her herself), or "Iyyahum kulluhum 'anit" (I intended all of them). Therefore, the meaning is understood. Abu al-Hasan does not allow saying "Iyyaka wa Aya Zaid" and distinguishes the narration about a man at age sixty with the phrase "Fiyyahu wa Iya Ash-Shiwab" as unusual, arguing that the purpose of annexation is specification, and since pronouns essentially denote specification, annexation of a proper noun is redundant. Regarding 'Nasta'in' — the original form is 'Nasta'un,' derived from 'al-‘awn' (help), but the letter 'waw' was converted to 'ya' because the kasra (the vowel marker) was too heavy for 'waw,' so the kasra was shifted to the letter before it, resulting in a silent 'ya' ('nasta'in'). This is known as 'i'lal' (phonetic alteration), where the second occurs as a consequence of the first (e.g., 'a‘ana' becomes 'ya‘in,' and 'qaama' becomes 'yaquum'). Further explanation may be given later, God willing. As for the verbs 'na‘budu' (we worship) and 'nasta‘inu' (we seek help), both are in the nominative because they occupy a syntactical position suitable for a noun. For example, if you said "Ana ‘abiduka wa ana musta‘inuka" (I am your worshipper and I seek your help), this carries the same meaning, justifying the nominative form. This is because the verbs have come to serve as verbal nouns in this context. Meaning: The Almighty’s statement "Iyyaka na‘budu wa iyyaka nasta‘inu" signifies exclusivity in our act of worship and seeking help: We worship You alone and none other, and we seek help only from You, no one else. It's similar to when someone says, "Iyyaka a‘ni" (I intend none but you), which is more emphatic than simply saying, "A‘nik" (I intend you). Worship is a kind of gratitude, and with the highest degree — submission combined with utmost reverence — only due to the One who grants the main blessings: life, power, and desire. No one else can be truly worthy of worship. While some humans warrant gratitude and even obedience, no one among them deserves worship as God does. Those who say worship equals obedience to the object of worship err, because obedience is following commands, which may occur without worship. A son may obey his father without worshiping him; a slave obeys his master but may not worship him. Furthermore, polytheists worship idols without obeying them, given those idols lack capability to issue commands. The phrase "Iyyaka nasta‘inu" means: from You alone do we seek success and assistance in worship and all our affairs. Success (tawfiq) is uniting all the causes needed for accomplishing an action. Hence, when someone helps another, we don’t necessarily say 'awaffaqahu' (he granted him success), because one cannot necessarily unify all means needed for an act. The repetition of "Iyyaka" twice is for emphasis. If it was mentioned only once, one might mistakenly think worship and seeking help must be done together and cannot be separated. But reflection on the greatness of God shows worship can exist without seeking help. It is also said the repetition functions like the phrase "the house between Zaid and Amr" — when mentioning both parties, repeating the preposition clarifies the separation well. Poets have used this style, as in these lines by ‘Uday ibn Zaid and ‘Asha Hamdan, indicating the significance of repetition in clarifying distinction. This explanation is reasonable since repetition usually serves as emphasis if it isn't interpreted as attaching to a second verb. In this verse, the second 'Iyyaka' is attached to 'nasta‘inu' as its object, so how would it be emphasis? Another view suggests that repeating the mention instructs believers to renew their invocation of God whenever needing something. An objection: Since worshipping God cannot be done without His help, shouldn't seeking help precede worship in the text? The answer is: The order here places worship before seeking assistance, not assistance in general. Also, it’s possible to worship without seeking help explicitly. Furthermore, when two items are tightly linked, the order doesn’t alter meaning, like when you say: "I fulfilled my right and you treated me well," or the converse. Another opinion says requests for help are made for intended worship, not for worship already occurring. Asking for God’s assistance is beautiful even if He necessarily assists due to the command, for instance when the servant says, "My Lord, judge with truth." Also, continual invocation helps with kindness and performing the prescribed duties well. Some have erred in trying to prove from this verse that power or ability always accompanies the act, arguing that if ability were prior, seeking help would be pointless. But the desire to ask God happens for two reasons: first, to seek His kindness to strengthen motivations and facilitate the task, something not always present; when God gently shows the reward is great, the desire and enthusiasm increase. Second, to seek constant renewal of the ability to obey, maintaining strength moment by moment, especially for those who deny the constancy of ability or oppose it with wrongdoing. Regarding the shift from reporting to addressing in the phrase "Iyyaka na‘budu" until the end of the chapter, this is typical in classical Arabic poetry and speech, common and extensively exemplified. For instance, poet Labid shifted from reporting inner feelings to addressing them directly between musical couplets, as did Abu Kathir al-Hudhali and others. Al-Kisai said the meaning implies 'say, Iyyaka na‘budu' or 'O Muhammad, say this.' Similar stylistic patterns occur elsewhere in the Qur'an, such as the angels' greeting in various contexts. This concludes the detailed exposé on the fifth verse of Surah al-Fatiha according to al-Tabarsi's commentary.