Ar-Raḥīm
The Most Merciful
Root ر ح م (r-ḥ-m). Rāḥim means one who shows mercy, with the plural rāḥimīn. Ruḥm is affection or closeness, a word found in Qur'an 18:81. Lisān al-ʿArab describes raḥma as tenderness and an inclination towards another, while al-Rāghib calls it a tenderness that leads to doing good to the one shown mercy, and connects it to the womb and to kinship. Qur'an 59:22 places Ar-Raḥīm beside Ar-Raḥmān, naming Allah as both: ‘He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.’
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
- رَاحِمrāḥimone who shows mercy (pl. rāḥimīn)
- رُحْمruḥmaffection, closeness (18:81)
Pronunciation
الرَّحِيمُ
ar-ra-HEEM
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