Also known as: yarhamuk allah · yarhamakallah
يَرْحَمُكَ اللهُ
May Allah have mercy on you.
Yarḥamuka-llāh.
Reference
Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that the sneezer's brother or companion should say this to him after he says “al-ḥamdu lillāh”:
- Bukhārī 6224 · 8/49
Explanation
The verb yarḥamu comes from raḥma, mercy. The sentence is in the form of a statement, but, as Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī says, it means a supplication. The hadith has the listener say it to the one who sneezed and praised Allah. Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd, quoted in Fatḥ al-Bārī, understands the apparent sense to be that the sunna is fulfilled only by addressing the person directly, as in “yarḥamuka-llāh”.
- Fatḥ al-Bārī 10/609
- Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 8/12
- ʿAwn al-Maʿbūd 13/258
Questions and answers
When do you say yarhamukallah?
Yarhamukallah is said by the listener to the one who sneezed and praised Allah, as the hadith in Bukhari 6224 instructs.
What does yarhamukallah mean?
Yarhamukallah means May Allah have mercy on you; yarhamu comes from rahma, mercy. Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi notes that the sentence has the form of a statement but its meaning is a supplication.