Ar-Raḥmān
The Most Compassionate
Root ر ح م (r-ḥ-m). Al-Rāghib links the term raḥma to raḥim, the womb, a connection extending to ties of kinship. According to Lisān al-ʿArab, raḥma involves riqqa and taʿaṭṭuf, tenderness and inclining towards another, while al-Rāghib describes it as a tenderness that calls for doing good to the one shown mercy. Arḥam, meaning most merciful, appears in Qur'an 7:151 as arḥam ar-rāḥimīn. Marḥama, compassion, is mentioned in Qur'an 90:17. Lisān al-ʿArab records that Ar-Raḥmān is a name proper to Allah alone, not given to anyone else. ‘He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful’ (59:22).
The root
ر ح مr-ḥ-m
Mercy and tenderness. Lisān al-ʿArab defines raḥma as riqqa and taʿaṭṭuf (tenderness and inclining towards another); al-Rāghib calls it a tenderness that calls for doing good to the one shown mercy, and links it to raḥim, the womb, and from there to kinship.
- رَحْمَةraḥmamercy
- رَحِمraḥimwomb; ties of kinship (pl. arḥām)
- أَرْحَمarḥammost merciful (arḥam ar-rāḥimīn, 7:151)
- مَرْحَمَةmarḥamacompassion (90:17)
Pronunciation
الرَّحْمٰنُ
ar-rah-MAAN
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