The divine name al-Raḥmān appears 56 times in the Qurʾān (excluding the basmala at the beginning of chapters). Its co-occurrence with the attribute al-Raḥīm in the basmala and five other verses led early Qurʾānic exegetes and translators to assume that the two terms derive from the same root (r-ḥ-m) and differ only in the scope, abundance, or continuity of divine mercy. Interpretations of raḥma have ranged from divine blessings and favors bestowed upon servants to forgiveness and pardon for sinners or believers.
The primary issue of this study is whether al-Raḥmān is a proper name (ʿalam) or an attribute (ṣifa) for God Almighty, and it gathers evidence from the time of revelation and pre-Islamic Arabian history in support of its status as a proper name. Subsequently, we examine how Islamic scholars’ understanding and interpretation of this issue evolved in classical Arabic-Persian lexicons and Persian translations of the Qurʾān. To accomplish this goal, the study analyzes the Qurʾānic usages of al-Raḥmān as well as historical reports concerning its application. Considering that Arab migrants from southern Arabia applied al-Raḥmān to God Almighty, the study also explores the pre-Islamic South Arabian epigraphic parallels, particularly Rḥmnn (Raḥmānān) in Sabaean inscriptions. The findings indicate that the Quraysh and some northern Arabs referred to God as Allāh, while the inhabitants of southern and central Arabia called Him al-Raḥmān. Sabaean epigraphic evidence—whether Jewish, Christian, or "Jewish-monotheistic"—demonstrates that Rḥmnn (the Sabaean equivalent of al-Raḥmān) was used as a proper name for God at least a century and a half before Islam.
The co-occurrence of Allāh and al-Raḥmān in the basmala, the Qurʾānic emphasis on their shared referent in Q 17:110, and the Prophet’s (PBUH) strategic choice of these two names as battle slogans can be interpreted as a move toward religious-political unity, where terminological differences might have posed an obstacle. In practice, prominent grammarians such as Aʿlam al-Shantamari, Ibn Mālik, and Ibn Hishām parsed al-Raḥmān in the basmala not as an adjective (naʿt) for Allāh but as a substitute (badal).
Despite this historical, literary, and epigraphic evidence, the prevailing Islamic tradition treated al-Raḥmān as an attribute and sought to distinguish its meaning from the divine epithet al-Raḥīm. This approach extended to Qurʾān translations, from Tarjome-ye Tafsīr-e Ṭabarī (the earliest Persian translation of the Qurʾān) to the present day. Common equivalents for al-Raḥmān between the 4th/10th and 12th/18th centuries included mihrabān (kind), bakhshanda (beneficent), rūzī-dihanda (sustainer), bakhshāyanda (pardoner), bozorg-bakhshāyish (great in forgiveness), farākh-bakhshāyish (vast forgiveness), besyār-bakhshāyish (abundant in forgiveness), and payvasta-bakhshāyish (unceasing in forgiveness). Only a few translations, such as Qurʾān-e Qods, acknowledged al-Raḥmān as a proper name and thus untranslatable.
This article emphasizes the untranslatability of al-Raḥmān while also analyzing the Qurʾānic uses of al-Raḥīm. Based on etymological discussions, it proposes bakhshāyanda (merciful/forgiver/pardoner) as a Persian equivalent for al-Raḥīm, a choice with precedents in classical translations, particularly Tarjome-ye Tafsīr-e Ṭabarī. Accordingly, the suggested translation for the basmala is: “Beh nām-e Khodā-ye Raḥmān-e bakhshāyanda” (In the name of God, al-Raḥmān, the Forgiver).