The Quran begins with this:
1. By the name of God, the (universally) Compassionate, the (extensively) Compassionate
2. The praise is to God Lord of the (conscious) Worlds (of beings).
3. The (universally) Compassionate, the (extensively) Compassionate
4. Master of the day of Judgment
5. You do we Worship, and You we seek help from
6. Guide us the straight path
7. The path of those who you favored upon, (which is other) then the path of those who your wrath is upon nor those who go astray.
People might differ on each of these verses and what they mean, Quran goes to expand it and argues somehow, in a way, all the Quran is found in these 7 repeated verses and they both explain one another.
In Salah we recite this chapter minimum twice for Shiites, and Sunnis do it after the first two while that is a choice (option if we want, there is something else we recite that is more beloved per hadiths) for Shiites.
The chapter is so potent, so strong, yet so silent, so weak. It has all the Quran in it, and yet it almost has said nothing, so you need Quran and Sunnah, and striving and reflecting, and over time, this chapter takes on levels.
It literally is like the philosopher stone. It's something else.
7 Mathani it's called in 15th chapter. I'm afraid to translate Mathani, because, some people (cough:
@firedragon, cough) hate my translations for some reason when there can be more then one translation.