بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيم
Tafsīr [ḥuruf al-] Basmala (=
Bismillāh al-Raḥman al-Raḥīm).
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Introductory Note
The word
basmala is an Arabic
term of invocation indicative of the oft repeated Arabic Qur'ān formula Bismillāh al-Rahman al-Rahim
(cited above with pointing). It occurs before all 114 Surahs ("chapters") of the
Qur'an except the ninth Surah al-Tawba (The Surah of Repentance =
Q.9). More than a
billion pious Muslims repeat it in obligatory Qur'an rooted and other
devotions five or more times a day. It is used in countless ritualistic
and semi-ritualistic circumstances throughout the Muslim world. Its
pious recitation is believed to be a source of blessing and
sanctification. Numerous extra-qur'anic Islamic devotional and other
literatures and communications are headed by the basmala. It is without
doubt the most centrally important religious invocation in the Islamic
world wherein it is chanted and written under numerous circumstances.
Many hundreds of learned commentaries have been written on the
basmala in all the languages of Islamic civilization including, for
example, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish.
The basmala is made of
three or four (or more words counting the two occurrences of definite
article = ال
separately as prefixed to two words) Arabic words :
(1-2)
ب
meaning " In" and prefixed to the word "Name" (= 2)
(2) =
ب + اسم
=
بسم
, the word "Name" (= اسم
) with its first vowel letter "a" ا
elided or absent due to the prefixing of the letter
ب"
B" meaning "In"
(3)
الله
= Allah the personal name of the God of all
in the Qur'an; linguistically probably itself a
contraction of the words ال
al +
اله
= "God" = the God.
(4) al-Raḥman =
الرحمن
= ( prefixed with the definite article
= al. ).
(5) al-Raḥmīn =
الرحيم
= A + L+ R+ Ḥ+ Y + M (prefixed
with the definite article = al. ).
This basmala Arabic sentence
is thus composed of a succession of five or more words
(with repetition) which are made up of nineteen letters
These 19 letters may be spelled out as follows:
ب س م ا ل ل ه ا ل ر ح
م ن ا ل ر ح ي م
Thus, as transliterated the
list of letters is as follows:
(1) B + (2) S + (3) M +
(4) A + (5) L+ (6) L + (7) H +(8) A + (9) L + (10) R + (11) Ḥ +
(12) M + (13) N + (14) A + (15) L+ (16) R + (17) Ḥ +
(18) Y + (19) M.
بسم
Composed
of 3 letters =
B+S+ M
: (3) ب (1)
س (2) م
الله
Composed of 4 letters: A+L+L+H = letters 4-7.
الرحمن
Composed of 6 (2+4) letters =
A + L (=
ال
) + R+ Ḥ + M + N = letters 8-13
الرحيم
Composed of 6 (2+4)
letters =
A + L (=
ال
) + R+ Ḥ + Y + M = letters 14-19.
