اهدنا الصراط المستقيم
Guide us to the straight path.
A “path” has a familiar sensory image. Right guidance and the way of truth, however, are intelligible ethical and religious concepts. The example illustrates how an intellectual referent may be represented through a sensory source image.
The prayer is not merely a request to find a track across the ground. In a figurative reading, the accessible image of a straight route clarifies the intelligible idea of guidance while leaving that intended concept meaningful and coherent.