One agreed reading per āyah, measured across seven classical commentaries — Ṭabarī to the Jalālayn, six centuries. Not seven opinions side by side: what they agree on, counted, with the dissent kept.
āyāt 7commentaries 7tafsīr read 839,721 charsabout 466 printed pagesevery author died before 1957
What the count means. “6 of 7” is not a vote and not a confidence score. It says: of the seven commentaries, this many state this reading. The others are usually not against it — they are answering a different question: a variant reading, a point of grammar, an isnād.
This project reports agreement. It never settles disagreement. Deciding between Ṭabarī and Qurṭubī needs an ijāzah, which no one here holds. Every Arabic sentence below is cut from the published edition by machine — none of it is retyped, and any quotation that could not be matched to the source was dropped rather than approximated.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 1
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
PickthallIn the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Yusuf AliIn the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
what the commentaries agreeThe sura opens by invoking God under two names of mercy. The commentators converge on the sense - the possessor of mercy - and divide only over whether the basmala is itself the first verse.
4 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 3 quotations, cut from the editions
Makkan, seven ayat counting the basmala if it is part of it
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210)
باءُ الإلْصاقِ وهي مُتَعَلِّقَةٌ بِفِعْلٍ، والتَّقْدِيرُ: بِاسْمِ اللَّهِ أشْرَعُ في أداءِ،الطّاعاتِ، وهَذا المَعْنى لا يَصِيرُ مُلَخَّصًا مَعْلُومًا إلّا بَعْدَ الوُقُوفِ عَلى أقْسامِ الطّاعاتِ وهي العَقائِدُ الحَقَّةُ والأعْمالُ الصّافِيَةُ مَعَ الدَّلائِلِ والبَيِّناتِ ومَعَ الأجْوِبَةِ عَنِ الشُّبُهاتِ، وهَذا
the ba of attachment: 'in the name of God I begin'
al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144)
تعليم عباده كيف يتبركون باسمه، وكيف يحمدونه ويمجدونه ويعظمونه. فإن قلت: من حق حروف المعاني التي جاءت على حرف واحد أن تبنى على الفتحة التي هي أخت السكون، نحو كاف التشبيه ولام الابتداء وواو العطف وفائه وغير ذلك، فما بال لام الإضافة وبائها ب
teaching His servants how to seek blessing by His name
where they differWhether the basmala counts as ayah one is an old division. The commentators state it as a division; this project records it and does not settle it.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 2
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
PickthallPraise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
Yusuf AliPraise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;
what the commentaries agreePraise belongs to God by right, not merely as an act someone performs. Six of the seven draw the same distinction: hamd is praise for what one IS, wider than shukr, which answers a benefit received. 'Lord of the worlds' is glossed as owner and sustainer of every created order.
6 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 6 quotations, cut from the editions
الحمد باللسان وحده، فهو إحدى شعب الشكر، ومنه قوله عليه السلام: «الحمد رأس الشكر، ما شكر اللَّه عبد لم يحمده» [[أخرجه عبد الرزاق عن معمر عن قتادة عن عبد اللَّه بن عمرو رضى اللَّه عنهما به مرفوعا، وفيه انقطاع وعن ابن عباس مثله، رواه البغوي في تفسير (
hamd is with the tongue alone; one branch of shukr
where they differal-Qurtubi spends his section on the lexical range of h-m-d and on which utterance is superior, without contradicting the above.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 3
ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
PickthallThe Beneficent, the Merciful.
Yusuf AliMost Gracious, Most Merciful;
what the commentaries agreeThe two names are restated after 'Lord of the worlds' so that lordship is read through mercy rather than power. The editions that gloss the words converge on mercy as the willing of good toward its object.
3 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 3 quotations, cut from the editions
al-Jalalayn (d. 1505)
ذِي الرَّحْمَة وهِيَ إرادَة الخَيْر لِأَهْلِ
possessor of mercy, which is the willing of good for its people
doing good to creation, bestowing upon them, merciful to them
where they differal-Razi alone reads the sequence psychologically - al-Rahman answering hope, Malik yawm al-din answering fear. One editor, recorded, not adopted.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 4
مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
PickthallMaster of the Day of Judgment,
Yusuf AliMaster of the Day of Judgment.
what the commentaries agreedin here is recompense, not religion, and the Day is the Day of Resurrection. It is singled out because on it no ownership is manifest except God's. The one genuine division is the reading malik against maalik, and the commentators report both without ruling.
4 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 3 quotations, cut from the editions
where they differmalik / maalik is a variant reading, not a disagreement about meaning. The editions report it; none rules between them.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 5
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
PickthallThee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Yusuf AliThee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
what the commentaries agreeThe fronted pronoun carries exclusivity: You and no other. The editions gloss worship itself as rooted in humility and abasement in the language, and the verse pairs worship with asking help so that neither stands alone.
5 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 4 quotations, cut from the editions
where they differNone recorded on the meaning. al-Qurtubi notes the shift from third person to direct address as a rhetorical turn.
al-Fātiḥa 1 : 6
ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ
PickthallShow us the straight path,
Yusuf AliShow us the straight way,
what the commentaries agreeThe request is for guidance to a road that is straight - and the guidance asked for is being shown, inspired and granted success, not merely informed. 'Straight' is glossed as without crookedness, or as the middle between two extremes.
4 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 2 quotations, cut from the editions
and from the same root, hadiyya - a gift inclined from one to another
where they differThe editions differ on WHICH road is meant - Islam, the Qur'an, the way of the Prophet and his companions - and state these as reports from the salaf, not as competing rulings.
PickthallThe path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
Yusuf AliThe way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.
what the commentaries agreeThe straight road is identified by those who walked it - those God favoured - and marked off from two failures: those who drew anger and those who went astray. The commentators distinguish the two as knowing-and-not-acting against not-knowing.
5 of 7 commentaries
the evidence — 3 quotations, cut from the editions
where they differThe identification of the two groups is transmitted from the salaf and stated as such. Some editions keep the description general - any who know and do not act, any who act without knowledge - without naming communities. Both are in the corpus and both are recorded here.