The Name Al-Rahman and Its Significance in the Quran

The name Al-Rahman as explained here is most meaningful when interpreted as the Almighty, forming a clear Yang/Yin relationship with the name Al-Raheem, the All-Merciful. It is mentioned 57 times in Quran, in 56 ayat (because one aya contains 2 mentions) in 18 suras. This subject is so vast it needs multiple posts, but here I will try to convey the Quranic significance of the name to begin with.

Everything in the Basmalah is important, far more than most of those who analyze Quranic structure think. But the name Al-Rahman is particularly so, and also not well-understood, or at least the translations and a number of presumptions do not take into account all the indicators of its depth of meaning. Here we list some important indicators of that meaning.

Allah’s Miraculous Creation Statement

Allah the Exalted states in the Quran that He creates whatever He wills by a word: كُن فَیَكُونُ

بَدِیعُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ ٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۖ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰۤ أَمۡرࣰا فَإِنَّمَا یَقُولُ لَهُۥ كُن فَیَكُونُ the Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a thing, He only says to it, “Be!” and it is. (2:117)

This expression in Arabic above contains 7 letters. It appears in the Quran 8 times in the following Quranic ayat, starting with the one above: (2:117), (3:47), (3:59), (6:73), (16:40), (19:35), (36:82), (40:68). When we add all the sura reference numbers, the sum total is 125 (5³). If we take the number 5 to represent hands (from our human perspective), this is an exponential representation of “the Hand of God” — in the form of words. Next, add all the verse reference numbers, to get the sum total of 521 which is, amazingly, the 100th prime number! An utterly celestial number, representing 100%, completion/perfection in an indivisible way, being prime. But notice 125 and 521 are also reverse digits!

Now, what if we added all the sura numbers to the verse numbers? It should yield the same results as adding the above numbers 125+521=646. As an additional check, we did this anyway and added the results, which did in fact yield the sum of 646, a palindrome, with two prime factors: 17 x 19. The number 17 is the prime “half” of 34, itself related to a significant {3,4} pattern in the Quran’s very structure as well as text. The number 19 is significant in the Quran — but the Quran’s inimitable structure is more complex than division by a single factor. And more miraculous than we could imagine.

Quranic Architecture’s Cosmic Connection: the Zodiac Transformed

Indeed, within the heavens and earth are signs for the believers.

Surah Al-Jathiya 45:3

Before the modern era, “evidence” was usually thought of as something outstanding that showed us a truth, like guideposts. The flights of birds, the way ships float on water, the huge variety of colors and characteristics of plants and animals, all these and more are mentioned in the Quran as “signs,” often “signs for those who reason.” These signs provide evidence of Allah’s relationship with all life, indeed with all creation, and in turn, of the complex interrelationships within creation itself. Such signs are dismissed in today’s dominant culture of empiricism as vague or lacking the rigor of scientific proof; but science by definition avoids the “unscientific” search for meaning as that which gives direction and value to life.

In this PDF download, the Quran’s architecture and its relationship to the Zodiac as a celestial view of the sky as seen from earth and its use for timekeeping is discussed.

the-zodiac-transformedDownload

Drawings of ancient Arabian zodiac figures. Writing is in Safaitic, an ancient Arabian script.

Surah 112 Al-Ikhlas: Our Creator, with Dazzling Details

The 112th Surah of the Quran is entitled “Al-Ikhlas” which is usually translated “Sincerity”, or less commonly, “Devotion.” The word itself shares a root with the word khalasa which means the essence of something. One could say sincerity or devotion is the essential attitude we should bring to Allah. This attitude begins with the understanding of Who He Is, to Whom shall we be sincere, described in this Surah as essentially and indivisibly One in the first two verses. This understanding is completed in the next two verses which describe Who Allah Is Not. We shall examine the original Arabic closely to show how this Surah literally embeds the words that express how Allah creates from nothing, the capability of none but Allah the One Creator.

Analyzing those words further reveals connections to the genetic code, the basis of all life, of which the Creator alone has full knowledge. That such a complex code and system can be referred to meaningfully in so few words and letters in this Surah while conveying a most basic message about Allah’s very Being is certainly astounding.