Quran Gallery Blog · Reflections
Tadabbur of Al-Fātiḥah, verse one
Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm — a single verse, three names of God, and the doorway to every sūrah but one.
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Author:The Quran Gallery team
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Notice that mercy appears twice in a single verse, in two of its forms — ar-Raḥmān (the encompassing, this-worldly mercy) and ar-Raḥīm (the intimate, lasting mercy reserved for the believers).
That’s the doorway. Every chapter of the Qur’an opens with these words — every one except Sūrat at-Tawbah. It’s the first thing the reciter says, the first thing the listener hears, the first frame for everything that follows.
A reflection prompt
When you next open the muṣḥaf, pause on this verse for the length of one breath before you continue. Ask yourself: what would it look like, today, to do this work in His name?
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