raḥmān-Notepad I-sam

raḥmān-Notepad I-sam

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Arabic: raḥmān. Typically rendered most merciful. See 36:23 and note thereto, note to 1:1, and Notepad I*. The verse here provides strong corroborative evidence that raḥmān means, as rendered throughout, almighty and not, as the Traditionalist claims, beneficent or most merciful since intending harm is nowhere a characteristic of mercy.

(আৰবী: ৰহমান। সাধাৰণতে অতি দয়ালু বুলি ৰেণ্ডাৰ কৰা হয়। 36:23 চাওক আৰু ইয়াৰ টোকা, 1:1 ৰ টোকা, আৰু নোটপেড I* চাওক। ইয়াত পদটোৱে এই কথাৰ শক্তিশালী সমৰ্থনমূলক প্ৰমাণ আগবঢ়াইছে যে ৰহমানৰ অৰ্থ হৈছে, গোটেইখিনিতে অনুবাদ কৰা অনুসৰি, সৰ্বশক্তিমান আৰু পৰম্পৰাবাদীয়ে দাবী কৰা ধৰণে উপকাৰী বা অতি দয়ালু নহয় যিহেতু ক্ষতিৰ উদ্দেশ্য ক’তো দয়াৰ বৈশিষ্ট্য নহয়।)

(৩৬:২৩

أَأَتَّخِذُ مِنْ دُونِهِ آلِهَةً إِنْ يُرِدْنِ الرَّحْمَٰنُ بِضُرٍّ لَا تُغْنِ عَنِّي شَفَاعَتُهُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُنْقِذُونِ

‘মই তেওঁৰ বাহিৰে আন কোনো ইলাহ গ্ৰহণ কৰিম নেকি? ৰহমানে মোৰ কোনো ক্ষতি কৰিব বিচাৰিলে সিহঁতৰ ছুপাৰিছ মোৰ কোনো কামত নাহিব আৰু সিহঁতে মোক উদ্ধাৰো কৰিব নোৱাৰিব।)

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(Notepad I*

raḥmān — almighty

Almost all translations of the Qur’an render raḥmān as beneficent

or most merciful or synonyms thereof.

While raḥmān and raḥīm (merciful) do, it is true, come from 

the same root (r-ḥ-m) it would be surprising if the Qur’an — a 

scripture characterized by economy of words — opened with 

and repeated a tautologous statement.

There is objective historical support for the value of almighty 

for raḥmān. The term is found in a eulogy carved in rock to a 

Nabataean king who had successfully destroyed his enemies. In 

it he is described as raḥmān — hardly the adjective of choice if 

beneficent or merciful were its value.

Since I connect Muḥammad with the city of Petra (at least in the 

sense that it was the location of the pilgrimage — an event he 

was expected to attend in order to witness to the truth of the 

One God — until such time as it was annulled for believers at 

9:28) on the basis of both the Qur’anic narrative and historical 

data — and since Petra is in Northern Arabia and was occupied 

by the Nabataeans — this linguistic point supports the broader 

case for the Nabataean locus of at least part of the Qur’anic 

revelation also.

By reviewing all instances of raḥmān one sees that concepts of 

mercy cannot be sustained in a number of cases (for example 

36:23), whereas almighty fits every context perfectly. 

On this basis, I conclude that almighty is the correct value.

All instances in the text appear in the notes.

References

1:1, 1:3, 2:163, 13:30, 17:110, 19:18, 19:26, 19:44, 19:45, 19:58, 

19:61, 19:69, 19:75, 19:78, 19:85, 19:87, 19:88, 19:91, 19:92, 

19:93, 19:96, 20:5, 20:90, 20:108, 20:109, 21:26, 21:36, 21:42, 

21:112, 25:26, 25:59, 25:60, 25:60, 25:63, 26:5, 27:30, 36:11, 

36:15, 36:23, 36:52, 41:2, 43:17, 43:19, 43:20, 43:33, 43:36, 

43:45, 43:81, 50:33, 55:1, 59:22, 67:3, 67:19, 67:20, 67:29, 78:37, 78:38.

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arranged syedraf