Ch. i]
THE OPENING
5
| In[1] the name of Allah,[2] the Beneficent, the Merciful.[3] | بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيْمِ ١ | |
| 1 (All)[4] Praise is due to Allah, the Lord[5] of the Worlds.[6] | الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ ٢ |
- ↑ I retain the ordinary translation of the particle bá, but I must warn the reader that the sense of this particle is not the same in Arabic as the sense of the word in in the equivalent phrase in the name of God, in in the latter case signifying on account of, whereas the bá in Arabic signifies by, or through, or, to be more exact, with the assistance of. The phrase is in fact equivalent to: I seek the assistance of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful (AH).
- ↑ Alláh, according to the most correct of the opinions respecting it, is a proper name applied to the Being Who exists necessarily by Himself, comprising all the attributes of perfection (TA-LL), the al being inseparable from it, not derived (Msb-LL). Aḷ-iláh is a different word, and there is nothing to show that Allah is a contraction of Aḷ-iláh. The word Alláh is not applied to any being except the only true God, and comprises all the excellent names (TA-LL), and the Arabs never gave the name Allah to any of their numerous idols. Hence, as being the proper name of the Divine Being, and not having any equivalent in any other language, I have adopted the original word in this translation.
- ↑ Ar-Raḥmán and Ar-Raḥím are both derived from raḥmat, signifying tenderness requiring the exercise of beneficence (Rgh), and thus comprising the idea of love and mercy. Ar-Raḥmán and Ar-Raḥím are both active participle nouns of different measures denoting intensiveness of significance, the former being of the measure of fa’lán and indicating the greatest preponderance of the quality of mercy, and the latter being of the measure of fa’íl and being expressive of a constant repetition and manifestation of the attribute (AH). The two words have been explained by the Holy Prophet himself, and though the words are different, the ultimate significance is the same as that which is the result of the grammatical consideration. He is reported to have said: "Ar-Raḥmán is the Beneficent God Whose love and mercy are manifested in the creation of this world, and Ar-Raḥím is the Merciful God Whose love and mercy are manifested in the state that comes after" (AH), i.e. in the consequences of the deeds of men. Thus the attribute of mercy in Ar-Raḥmán is manifested before man comes into existence in the creation of things that are necessary for his life here, and therefore without his having deserved them, while the same attribute in Ar-Raḥím is manifested when man has done something to deserve it. Thus the former is expressive of the utmost degree of love and generosity, the latter of unbounded and constant favour and mercy. Lexicologists agree in holding that the former includes both the believer and the unbeliever for its objects, while the latter particularizes more the believer (LL, Rgh, LA, TA). Hence I render Ar-Raḥmán as meaning the Beneficent God, because the idea of doing good is predominant in it, though I must admit that the English language lacks an equivalent of Ar-Raḥmán even making an approach to giving expression to the all-comprehensive love and goodness manifested in that word. It may also be noted that Ar-Raḥmán, though manifesting an attribute, is like a proper name and applicable only to the Divine Being. The word is, in tact, used as an alternative with Allah, very clearly so in 17:110. Hence it is not applied to denote the quality of mercy in man, though Ar-Raḥím is so applied. The only exception mentioned by the lexicologists is that Musailma the Liar was called the Raḥmán of Yamámah by his followers, but such a use of a proper name has always been considered allowable. As the word Raḥmán as a name of the Divine Being was quite new to the Arabs (25:60), the followers of the Liar may have applied it to him as a retort to the Muslims.
- ↑ The al in al-ḥamd-u is for istighráq-ul-jins, i.e. the universal inclusion of the genus (AH), showing that all kinds of praise are included.
- ↑ The Arabic word Rabb conveys not only the idea of fostering, bringing-up, or nourish-
- ↑
