Our entire book is an incredible divine picture of balance and this Surah is one of the most profound, beautiful and unimaginably perfect example of balance in the entire Quran – a balance that is humanly impossible.
Perfection from the first word – Alhamdulillah
If there’s just praise, then thanks is missing. If there’s thanks, then praise is missing. The balance is achieved by Hamd.
Balance in second and third ayats
If there’s just Ar-rahman-ir-rahim, then people will take advantage. It is balanced with maliki-youmiddeen.
Balance between Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and us
The first part (first 3 verses) are all about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). The middle part (fourth verse) is about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and us. The last part (last 3 verses) are for us.
Linguistic perfection
Some sentences in Arabic are noun sentences and the quality of noun sentences is that they are timeless. Some sentences are verb sentences and the quality of verb sentences is that they are temporary.
The first part (first 3 verses) is about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and they are noun sentences. The last part is about us and they are verb sentences. The middle part is about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and us and it is a verb sentence beginning with noun i.e. it is a mixture of both.
Observation: The quality about nouns is that they are timeless and the quality of verbs is that they are temporary. The noun sentences go to Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala), just like Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is timeless. The verb sentences go to us just like we are temporary. The one between us and Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) is a combination of both. Hence, it is linguistically perfect.
Perfect symmetry in the fourth ayat
The first 3 verses are about Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and it leads to the conclusion “iyyaka na’budu”. The second half begins with “iyyaka nasta’een” and the rest of it describes the kind of help we want. Hence the conclusion of the first 3 verses is “iyyaka na’budu” and the introduction of the last 3 verses is “iyyaka nasta’een” – perfect halves.
Balance of knowledge and action
The first part (first 3 verses) are all about knowledge. The middle part (fourth verse) is action. In our religion, knowledge and action are very important. When we learn something, we need to act on it. When we asked for guidance we discussed 3 groups of people – people on the straight path, people that received anger, people that are lost. The people on the straight path must have had both knowledge and action. The people that received anger had knowledge but no action. The people that are lost had action but no knowledge. The whole Surah is a balance between knowledge and action.
Al-‘Aalameen
The Surah began with Al-‘Aalameen. The whole of Al-‘Aalameen is divided into 3 categories. The people on the straight path, people that received anger, people that are lost.
Perfect balance from beginning to end
The first Surah of the Quran began with something positive (Alhamdulillah). The last Surah starts with something negative (Qul A’oodhu) and balances it out. The first surah began with “Rabb-il-‘aalameen”. The last Surah goes in a different language but same concept with “Rabbi-n-naas”. After taking out the first 2 positive verses (balanced with the first verse of the last Surah) we have Maaliki yawmiddeen that corresponds with maliki-n-naas. In Surah Fatihah we have iyyaka na’budu (we want to enslave ourselves to Allah SWT). It is like taking Shahada and when we take Shahada we say la ilaha. Surah Naas contains Ilahi-n-naas. Next we have 1 positive ayat and 2 negative ayats in Surah Fatihah. Surah Naas is about protecting ourselves, so there won’t be a corresponding positive ayat. The number of negative ayat in Surah Naas is 2 corresponding to the 2 of Fatihah. Hence, it is perfectly balanced, beginning to end. It is almost as though when we study Naas, we understand Fatihah, it forces us back to Fatihah. The way the Quran flows and flows is absolutely breathtaking.