The manner in which the surah begins is an acknowledgement and recognition of Allah’s glory and mercy.
The words, “Guide us the straight way”, point specifically to an important fact. Any honest person can safely chart his course in the light of his reason and pristine human nature, but beyond this point his steps falter, his reason is helpless, and he cannot move forward unaided.
He may find it impossible on his own to find answers to such questions as how to attain closeness to his Sustainer Whom he seeks to worship and adore and Whose guidance and support he needs;
----how to worship Him,
----how to discover His likes and dislikes in order to seek His pleasure and avoid His displeasure;
----and how to address his supplications to Him for guidance and support.
Further basic questions also arise. What should an honest, sensible person supplicate for and how?
How can he find the straight path for which he so fervently supplicates his Sustainer in the words, “Guide us the straight way”?
---To express our need for help and guidance in the form of a supplication clearly means that left alone human reason is utterly helpless in this area.
---Allah alone can guide us to the straight path, and He alone can guide our steps onto it and grant us the strength and power to persevere in it. Incidentally, this also reveals the deficiency in human nature and its intrinsic weakness.
---In the presence of such weakness, human beings cannot on their own find the truth and the straight path; they stand in need of Divine guidance. A person cannot on his own find the proper way to worship and adore, to follow and obey God without help from God’s Prophets and Messengers.
---They are needed and God has sent them at various times to teach humankind how to win His pleasure and avoid His anger by following what is good and right and keeping away from that which is evil and odious in His sight.
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