رحمن

See also: زحمن

Arabic

Etymology 1.1

From the root ر ح م (r-ḥ-m). Compare Aramaic רַחְמָן / ܪܚܡܢ (raḥmān), Hebrew רַחְמָן (raḥmān). It is usual to believe the Arabic form borrowed from one of these two languages, either immediately or through the mediation of Old South Arabian, due to the occurrence of the word only in this specific context of specifying the epithet of the monotheistic god الرَّحْمٰن (ar-raḥmān), as well as the fact that its defective spelling mirrors the corresponding defective spelling in the previously mentioned languages.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /raħ.maːn/

Adjective

رَحْمٰن • (raḥmān)

merciful, compassionate (said of God)
- 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:163:
  وَإِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ
  waʔilāhukum ʔilāhun wāḥidun lā ʔilāha ʔillā huwa r-raḥmānu r-raḥīmu
  And your God is one God, there is no god but He, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Declension

Declension of adjective رَحْمٰن (raḥmān)

Singular	Masculine		Feminine
	basic singular diptote		—
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	رَحْمٰن raḥmān	الرَّحْمٰن ar-raḥmān	—	—
Nominative	رَحْمٰنُ raḥmānu	الرَّحْمٰنُ ar-raḥmānu	—	—
Accusative	رَحْمٰنَ raḥmāna	الرَّحْمٰنَ ar-raḥmāna	—	—
Genitive	رَحْمٰنَ raḥmāna	الرَّحْمٰنِ ar-raḥmāni	—	—

Descendants

→ Classical Persian: رَحْمَٰن (rahmān)
- Dari: رَحْمٰن (rahmān), رَحْمَان (rahmān)
- Iranian Persian: رَحْمٰن (rahmân), رَحْمان (rahmân)
- Tajik: раҳмон (rahmon)
- → Bengali: রহমান (rohoman)
- → Hindustani:
  Hindi: रहमान (rahmān)
  Urdu: رَحْمٰن (rahmān)
- → Malayalam: റഹ്മാൻ (ṟahmāṉ)
- → Tamil: ரகுமான் (rakumāṉ)

References

Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 140–141
Fraenkel, Siegmund (1880) De vocabulis in antiquis Arabum carminibus et in Corano peregrinis‎^[1] (in Latin), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 23
Nöldeke, Theodor, Schwally, Friedrich (1909) Geschichte des Qorāns. Erster Teil: Über den Ursprung des Qurāns.‎^[2] (in German), 2^nd edition, Leipzig: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, pages 112–113
Rudolph, Wilhelm (1922) Die Abhängigkeit des Qorans von Judentum und Christentum (in German), Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, page 28
Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “رحمن”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[3], London: W.H. Allen
Wehr, Hans (1979) “رحم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Etymology 1.2

Verb

رحمن (form I)

رَحِمْنَ (raḥimna) /ra.ħim.na/: third-person feminine plural past active of رَحِمَ (raḥima)
رُحِمْنَ (ruḥimna) /ru.ħim.na/: third-person feminine plural past passive of رَحِمَ (raḥima)

Etymology 1.3

Verb

رحمن (form II)

رَحَّمْنَ (raḥḥamna) /raħ.ħam.na/: third-person feminine plural past active of رَحَّمَ (raḥḥama)
رُحِّمْنَ (ruḥḥimna) /ruħ.ħim.na/: third-person feminine plural past passive of رَحَّمَ (raḥḥama)
رَحِّمْنَ (raḥḥimna) /raħ.ħim.na/: second-person feminine plural imperative of رَحَّمَ (raḥḥama)

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَحْمٰن (raḥmān).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɾah.ˈmɑːn]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [räɦ.mɑ́ːn]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [rɑː.mɑ́ːn]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [rɔː.mɔ́ːn]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹæɦ.mɒ́ːn]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾäɦ.mɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading^?	rahmān
Dari reading^?	rahmān
Iranian reading^?	rahmân
Tajik reading^?	rahmon

Adjective


Iranian Persian	رَحمٰن
Dari	رَحمٰن
Tajik	раҳмон

رَحمٰن • (rahmân)

(Islam) merciful, all-merciful, most merciful; used only of God.
Synonyms: بخشاینده (baxšâyande), بخشنده (baxšande)

― ey xodâvand-e rahman ― o merciful God

Alternative forms

رَحمان (rahmân)

Derived terms

اَلرَّحمٰن (ar-rahmân)

Descendants

Dari: رَحْمٰن (rahmān), رَحْمَان (rahmān)
Iranian Persian: رَحْمٰن (rahmân), رَحْمان (rahmân)
Tajik: раҳмон (rahmon)
→ Bengali: রহমান (rohoman)
→ Hindustani:
Hindi: रहमान (rahmān)

Urdu: رَحْمٰن (rahmān)
→ Malayalam: റഹ്മാൻ (ṟahmāṉ)
→ Tamil: ரகுமான் (rakumāṉ)