Page 139 - Pure Life 08

177 / ( An Explanatory Model of Word Selection in the Translation of the Holy Quran

6. Guide us to the Straight Path
The verse has two basic parts:
Ihdina (Imprevative verb + objective pronoun);
Ihdi – meaning guide; Na – meaning us.) and As-
Sirāt’al mustaqeem (Noun + adjective. Sirāt –
meaning path; Mustaqeem – meaning straight).
The word ihdina derived from the root hidâyah,
plus the objective preposition nâ, which means 'us'.
Hidâyah is a type of kindly guidance, not just by
showing the way, but by taking into the
destination.
On the other hand, the meaning of the words
direct, take, guide and lead which has been used in
the translations are basically the same with a subtle
difference.
According to Longman Dictionary, if you direct
someone somewhere, you tell them which way to
go to get there, but you do not go with them, but if
you take, guide, or lead someone somewhere, you
accompany them. Use guide especially to talk
about helping someone along a difficult route. Use
lead to talk about going in front of someone who is
following you.
Accordingly, the word 'guide' could be the
closest equivalents to hidayah. Because sırat
means difficult way, and ihdina means guide us to
the end.
1

1. See: Al Ashfahani, 1412 H and Tabatabai, 1397 H and
Longman Dictionary, 2008.