Ar-Rahman — The Most Compassionate

Ar-Rahman describes a mercy so vast that it belongs to Allah alone — the name is never used for anyone else. Classical scholars explain it as the mercy that reaches all of creation without their earning it: the believer and the disbeliever, the whole world sustained by it every moment. It shares a root with Ar-Rahim, but Ar-Rahman points to mercy as an attribute of His very being, while Ar-Rahim points to its effect on those who receive it. It is the name paired with Allah at the opening of almost every surah.

Updated July 16, 2026