Allāh
God, The One True God
Root أ ل ه (ʾ-l-h). The lexicons record many opinions on the origin of the word Allāh. Lane, citing al-Qāmūs and its commentator, mentions twenty, or more than thirty. Al-Layth, al-Miṣbāḥ and al-Qāmūs hold that it is a proper name, not derived. Others derive it from ilāh, ‘the one worshipped’, with the article added, the hamza dropped, and the two lāms merged, as stated by Sībawayh, al-Jawharī and others. Sībawayh also allowed lāh, from lāha, to be veiled, concealed, as al-Jawharī reports; al-Rāghib records it too. Al-Rāghib and Lane, citing Tāj al-ʿArūs, relate it to aliha, meaning to be perplexed, because minds are bewildered by His majesty, or to take refuge with. They also give wilāh, from walah, yearning, because creatures yearn towards Him. ‘He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity’ (59:22).
The root
أ ل هʾ-l-h
Disputed; the lexicons record many opinions (Lane, citing al-Qāmūs and its commentator, says twenty, or more than thirty) and this file does not choose between them. (1) A proper name, not derived: Lane calls this 'the most correct of the opinions' according to al-Qāmūs and al-Miṣbāḥ, and attributes 'not derived' to al-Layth, al-Miṣbāḥ and al-Qāmūs. (2) From ilāh, of the pattern fiʿāl meaning mafʿūl (maʾlūh, 'the one worshipped', from alaha, 'to worship'): the article was added, the hamza dropped for ease through frequent use, and the two lāms merged. Al-Jawharī gives this, and Lane reports it from Sībawayh, Abū al-Haytham, al-Jawharī and al-Miṣbāḥ; al-Jawharī reports Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī's view that the article stands in compensation for the dropped hamza. (3) Sībawayh also allowed that its origin is lāh, from lāha yalīhu, 'to be veiled, concealed' (al-Jawharī, via Lisān al-ʿArab, art. لوه); al-Rāghib reports it as from lāha 'he was veiled'. (4) ilāh from aliha, 'to be perplexed', because minds are bewildered by His majesty, or aliha ilayhi, 'to take refuge with' (al-Rāghib; Lane citing Tāj al-ʿArūs). (5) ilāh originally wilāh, from walah, 'yearning', because creatures yearn towards Him (al-Rāghib; Lane citing Tāj al-ʿArūs).
- إِلٰهilāhgod, deity; an object of worship (2:163)
- آلِهَةālihahgods, idols (21:43)
- اللّٰهُمَّAllāhummaO Allah (3:26)
- تَأَلَّهَtaʾallahadevoted himself to worship (Lane, al-Jawharī)
Pronunciation
اللّٰهُ
al-LAAH
In the Qur'an
هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ ۖ هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ
He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
59:22 · Sahih International
Sources
- E. W. Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon (London, 1863–93), ا ل ه (sub-entry اللّٰهُ)
- al-Jawharī, Tāj al-Lugha wa-Ṣiḥāḥ al-ʿArabiyya, أ ل ه
- al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt fī Gharīb al-Qurʾān, أ ل ه
- Ibn Sīda, al-Muḥkam wa-l-Muḥīṭ al-Aʿẓam, أ ل ه
- Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, ل و ه (quoting al-Jawharī on Sībawayh and lāh)
- Quranic Arabic Corpus (root index, morphology v0.4), أ ل ه