Hazrat Inayat Khan’s elaboration

Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of the Sufi Order in the west, was born in India in 1882. A master of classical Indian music by the age of twenty, he relinquished a brilliant career to devote himself to the spiritual path. In 1910, he left India to became one of the first teachers of the Sufi tradition in the west. For a decade and a half he travelled throughout Europe and the United States, giving lectures and guiding an ever-growing group of seekers. In 1926, he returned to India, where he died the following year.

I discovered Inayat Khan’s writings in 1998. I came across the following prayer, which seemed to me an elaboration of the Fatiha.


Praise be to Thee, Most Supreme God,
Omnipotent, Omnipresent, All-pervading, the Only Being.
Take us in Thy Parental Arms, raise us from the denseness of the earth,
Thy Beauty do we worship, to Thee do we give willing surrender.
Most Merciful and Compassionate God, the Idealized Lord of the whole humanity,
Thee only do we worship, and towards Thee Alone do we aspire.
Open our hearts towards Thy Beauty, illuminate our souls with Divine Light,
O Thou, the Perfection of Love, Harmony and Beauty,
All-powerful Creator, Sustainer, Judge and Forgiver of our shortcomings,
Lord God of the East and of the West,
of the worlds above and below,
and of the seen and unseen beings.
Pour upon us Thy Love and Thy Light,
give sustenance to our bodies, hearts and souls,
use us for the purpose that Thy Wisdom chooseth,
and guide us on the path of Thine Own Goodness.
Draw us closer to Thee every moment of our life,
until in us be reflected Thy Grace, Thy Glory, Thy Wisdom, Thy Joy and Thy Peace.

Amen