_2ndly._--(_a_) God being our Creator, we have to _worship_, adore and love Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to God. (_b_) Again, God being our merciful Preserver, we have to seek the protection of Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to ourselves. (_c_) Finally, God being our Judge or Ruler, we have to solicit guidance of Him and Him alone. This is the duty we owe to our fellow-creatures (including lower animals) in the world we live in. You must not fall into the error of believing that God is Creator at one time or place, that He is Maintainer or Preserver at another time or place, and that He is Judge or Ruler at a third time or place. No, no; He, being the One and only God, is all the three together, Creator, Preserver and Ruler, at all times and in all places. It is we who, in order to understand Him properly and adore Him rightly, separate in our minds His three principal attributes, and think of Him as our Creator _when_ we worship Him, think of Him as our Preserver _when_ we seek His protection, and think of Him as our Ruler or Judge _when_ we solicit His guidance. It is only we, finite and conditioned creatures, that are tied down to and limited by time, place and circumstances. To God there are none such. He is the One Infinite and Absolute, the One who hath neither beginning nor end--the One who is absolutely unlimited and unconditioned by time, place, circumstances, or anything else. This is the Islamic conception or idea of God. _3rdly_.--What does the Sura teach us as to the guidance which we have to ask of God in our dealings with our fellow-creatures? It is guidance into the straight path. What is the straight path? It is the path of righteousness or the path of _Grace_ which is between two extremes, the path of _Sin_ and the path of _Error_. A Muslim's right path, _i.e._, his right course of conduct, lies between two extreme paths or courses of conduct, _viz._, on the one hand, the path of those who sin, who knowingly and deliberately go against the will of God, which is manifest in Nature, and on the other hand, the path of those who unwittingly, through ignorance, go against His will. The right path lies thus:-- _Path of Sin_ } _Path of Grace_ { _Path of Error_ } { which leads } which leads to { which leads to to ruin or } eternal bliss. { confusion worse destruction. } { confounded. You thus see that _true_ Islam consists in a threefold duty to God, to oneself, and to others, and this duty is to be discharged by simply adopting, under God's guidance, _the mean between two extremes_. As our Prophet has pithily expressed it [Arabic: khair ul umoor-e ausatiha], "the best of things is the medium thing." This is the fundamental principle which underlies everything which is Islamic or Muslim.[26] Please remember it, as also the three-fold Islamic Duty:--