Abd al-Rahim Joseph Ferrand
Servant of the Most Merciful.
The name
One name, carried in two words.
عَبْد
ʿabd
Servant
A servant, or one who worships. On its own it is not a name: it only becomes one when it says whose servant.
الرَّحِيم
al-Raḥīm
The Most Merciful
One of the names of God, and the last word of the verse that opens the Qur’an.
How to say it
abdurraheem
Open the name card to show someone on your phone.
It is written al-Rahim and spoken ar-Rahim. The r is what Arabic calls a sun letter, so the l of al- folds into it and the r doubles. The first sound is the letter ʿayn, a catch at the back of the throat that English has no letter for.
Why never “Abd”
The two words travel together as one first name. Cut it down to Abd and it says only servant, and no longer whose.
Letter by letter
Nine letters, read from right to left.
Choose a letter to find it in the name and hear what it does.
Arabic joins its letters together, so each one changes shape depending on its neighbors.
The root
Three letters carry a whole family of words.
Arabic builds words from roots. This one is ر ح م, r, ḥ, m, and everything it grows into has to do with mercy, and with the closeness of family.
Mercy. The noun at the center of the family.
The Entirely Merciful. A name of God, never given to anyone else.
The Especially Merciful. The name inside this name.
The womb, and from it the ties of kinship that bind a family.
Keeping those ties: visiting, calling, showing up for your people.
One who has been shown mercy. Said of those who have passed on.
I am Allah, and I am Ar-Rahman. I created the Rahim, and named it after My Name.
The opening
The name is the last word of the Basmala.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Al-Fatiha 1:1, translation by Marmaduke Pickthall, 1930
114
These words open 113 of the Qur’an’s 114 surahs. The ninth, at-Tawba, begins without them. The twenty-seventh, an-Naml, carries them twice, inside the letter Solomon sends to the Queen of Sheba, so the count still comes to 114.
وَرَحْمَتِى وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ
The family of names
Servant, then one of the names of God.
ʿAbd joined to a divine name is one of the oldest ways a Muslim is named. Each one says whose servant you are.
- عبد اللهʿAbd Allāhservant of God
- عبد الرحمنʿAbd al-Raḥmānof the Entirely Merciful
- عبد الرحيمʿAbd al-Raḥīmof the Especially MercifulThis name
- عبد الملكʿAbd al-Malikof the King
- عبد العزيزʿAbd al-ʿAzīzof the Almighty
- عبد الكريمʿAbd al-Karīmof the Generous
- عبد اللطيفʿAbd al-Laṭīfof the Gentle
- عبد الحكيمʿAbd al-Ḥakīmof the Wise
- عبد الغفورʿAbd al-Ghafūrof the Forgiving
- عبد الوهابʿAbd al-Wahhābof the Giver of Gifts
- عبد الرزاقʿAbd al-Razzāqof the Provider
- عبد السلامʿAbd al-Salāmof Peace
The most loved names to Allah are ʿAbdullah and ʿAbdur-Rahman.
Asked often
Questions people ask about the name.
What does Abd al-Rahim mean?
Servant of the Most Merciful. ʿAbd means servant, and al-Raḥīm, the Most Merciful, is one of the names of God.
How do I say it?
ab-dur-ra-HEEM, with the stress on the last syllable. It is written al-Rahim and spoken ar-Rahim, because r is a sun letter and the l of al- folds into it.
Can I just call you Abd?
Please say the whole name. On its own, Abd means only servant. The name is the two words together.
Is al-Rahim the same as al-Rahman?
They are siblings. Both grow from the root r-ḥ-m and both appear in the Basmala. Al-Raḥmān, the Entirely Merciful, is used only for God. Al-Raḥīm is the Especially Merciful.
How is it written in Arabic?
عبد الرحيم, two words read from right to left. With its vowel marks it is عَبْدُ الرَّحِيم.
For today
A saying on mercy.
Allah divided Mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety nine parts with Him and sent down one part to the earth, and because of that, its one single part, His Creations are merciful to each other, so that even the mare lifts up its hoofs away from its baby animal, lest it should trample on it.
When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, “My Mercy overpowers My Anger.”
Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son.
Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind.
He is not one of us who does not have mercy on our young and does not respect our elders.
A different one each day, from five, chosen by your own calendar.
Elsewhere
This page is the name. The rest lives next door.
Write to me.
A short address, easy to say out loud.
[email protected]The merciful are shown mercy by Ar-Rahman. Be merciful on the earth, and you will be shown mercy from Who is above the heavens.