Page:Maulana Muhammad Ali Quran.djvu/121

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 * || In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. 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. || بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيْمِ ۝١
 * || 1 (All) Praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. || الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ ۝٢
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