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Ar-Rahman ( ar, الرحمان, ; The Merciful) is the 55th Chapter (''Surah'') of the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
, with 78 verses ('' āyāt''). The title of the surah, Ar-Rahman, appears in verse 1 and means "The Most Beneficent". The divine appellation "ar-Rahman" also appears in the opening formula which precedes every surah except Sura 9 ("In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy"). English translations of the surah's title include "The Most Gracious", "The All Merciful", "The Lord of Mercy", "The Beneficent", and "The Mercy-Giving". In the fourth century CE south Arabian pagan inscriptions started to be replaced by monotheistic expressions, using the term
rahmān Ar-Rahman ( ar, الرحمان, ; The Merciful) is the 55th Chapter (''Surah'') of the Qur'an, with 78 verses ('' āyāt''). The title of the surah, Ar-Rahman, appears in verse 1 and means "The Most Beneficent". The divine appellation "ar-R ...
.Robert Schick, ''Archaeology and the Quran'',
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
There is disagreement over whether Ar-Rahman ought to be categorized as a surah of the
Meccan Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valle ...
or Medinan period.
Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several ...
and
Carl Ernst Carl W. Ernst (born September 8, 1950, in Los Angeles, California) is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Islamic studies at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was ...
have categorized it among the surahs of the early Meccan period (in accordance with its short ayah length), but Abdel Haleem has categorized it in his translation as Medinan,Haleem, ''The Qur’an'', 353. although most Muslim scholars place Sūrat ar-Rahman in the Meccan period. According to the traditional Egyptian chronology, Ar-Rahman was the 97th surah revealed. Nöldeke places it earlier, at 43, while Ernst suggests that it was the fifth surah revealed.


Summary

*1-4 God taught the Quran to the human *5-16 God the creator of all things *17-25 God controlled the seas and all that is therein *26-30 God ever liveth, though all else decay and die *31-40 God will certainly judge both men and jinn *41-45 God will consign the
wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...
to hell-fire *46-78 The joys of Paradise described


Structure

Ar-Rahman is composed entirely in ''
saj’ Saj‘ ( ar, سجع) is a form of rhymed prose in Arabic literature. It is named so because of its evenness or monotony, or from a fancied resemblance between its rhythm and the cooing of a dove. It is a highly artificial style of prose, characte ...
'', the rhymed, accent-based prose characteristic of early Arabic poetry. The most notable structural feature of Ar-Rahman is the
refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...
"Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?" (or, in Arberry’s rendering, "O which of your Lord's bounties will you and you deny?"), which is repeated 31 times in the 78 verses. Chapter 55 (Surah Rahman) is composed of 26
couplets A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...
, 4 tercets, and an introductory
stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...
of 13 verses all ending with this refrain. The final couplet is followed by a blessing of God's name. Thematically, Ar-Rahman can be divided into roughly three units. *Verses 1-30 expound upon natural displays of Allah's creative power and mercy in showering those who inhabit the earth with blessings. *Verses 31-45 describe the
final judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
and the terrible punishment that will be inflicted upon sinners. *Verses 46–78, by contrast, detail the delights that await the pious in paradise.


Verses


Q55:70-77 Houri

Muhammad Asad asserts that the "noun hur - rendered as 'companions pure' - is a plural of both ahwar (masculine) and hawra' (female), either of which describes a person distinguished by hawar', which latter term primarily denotes 'intense whiteness of the eyeballs and lustrous black of the iris'. Asad as well as Yusuf Ali and
Marmaduke Pickthall Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall (born Marmaduke William Pickthall; 7 April 187519 May 1936) was an English Islamic scholar noted for his 1930 English translation of the Quran, called ''The Meaning of the Glorious Koran''. His translation of the Qur ...
translate this verse as: According to
Ibn Kathir Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...
, the believer will be given a tent 60 miles wide, made of pearl, such that his wives will not see each other. The believer will visit them all. The ''Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an'' says that they (the Houri) are good and righteous virgins and are intended to have intercourse only with their husbands.


Hadith

Owing to the sura’s poetic beauty, it is often regarded as the 'beauty of the Quran', in accordance with a hadith:
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud Abdullah ibn Masūd, or Abdullah ibn Masood, or Abdullah Ben Messaoud ( ar, عبد الله بن مسعود, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʽūd; c.594-c.653), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who he is regarded the greatest mufassir of ...
reported that Muhammad said, "Everything has an adornment, and the adornment of the Qur'an is Surah Ar-Rahman"


References


External links

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Quran 55Ar-Rahman Benefits
Rahman {{Authority control Islamic theology