Surah Fatiha with Urdu Translation

Surah Al Fatiha (سُّورَةُ الفَاتِحَة‎) is the first Surah of the Holy Quran. Its seven verses (Ayat) are a prayer for the guidance, lordship and mercy of Allah. This surah has an essential role in Islamic prayer (Salat). The primary literal meaning of the expression "al-Fātiḥah" is "The Opening," which could refer to this Surah being "the opening of the Book" (Fātiḥat al-kitāb), to its being the first Surah recited in each cycle (rakah) of prayer, or to the manner in which it serves as an opening for many functions in everyday Islamic life.
Al-Fātiḥah is often believed to be a synthesis of the Holy Quran. It in itself is a prayer at the very beginning of the Quran, which acts as a preface of the Quran and implies that the book is for a person who is a seeker of truth—a reader who is asking a deity who is the only one worthy of all praise (and is the creator, owner, sustainer of the worlds etc.) to guide him to a straight path.

This preface is meant to create a strong desire in the heart of the reader to seek guidance from the Lord of the Universe, Who alone can grant it. Thus Al-Fatihah indirectly teaches that the best thing for a man is to pray for guidance to the straight path, to study the Quran with the mental attitude of a seeker- after-truth and to recognize the fact that the Lord of the Universe is the source of all knowledge. He should, therefore, begin the study of the Quran with a prayer to him for guidance.

From this theme, it becomes clear that the real relation between Al-Fatihah and the Quran is not that of an introduction to a book but that of a prayer and its answer. Al-Fatihah is the prayer from the servant and the Quran is the answer from the Master to his prayer. The servant prays to Allah to show him guidance and the Master places the whole of the Quran before him in answer to his prayer, as if to say, "This is the Guidance you begged from Me."