Alhamdulillah

Alhamdulillah (Arabic: ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ, al-Ḥamdu lillāh) is an Arabic phrase meaning "praise be to God",[1] sometimes translated as "thank God".[2] This phrase is called Tahmid (Arabic: تَحْمِيد, lit.'Praising').[3] A longer variant of the phrase is al-ḥamdu l-illāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīn (ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ), meaning "all praise is due to God, Lord of all the worlds", second verse of Surah Al-Fatiha.

The phrase is frequently used by Muslims of every background due to its centrality in the texts of the Quran and Hadith, the words of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Its meaning and in-depth explanation have been the subject of much exegesis. It is also commonly used by non-Muslim speakers of the Arabic language.

Meaning

Alhamdulillah written in Sini-Arabic script on an incense box, Qing Dynasty, 19th century, China. Adilnor Collection, Sweden.

The phrase has three basic parts:

  • al-, the definite article, "the".
  • ḥamd(u), literally meaning "praise", "commendation".
  • li-llāh(i), preposition + noun Allāh. Li- is a dative preposition meaning "to". The word Allāh (Arabic: ٱللَّٰه) is the proper name of the God of Abraham. "Al ilah" means "The God", and it is a contraction of the definite article al- and the word ʾilāh (Arabic: إِلَٰه, "god, deity"). As in English, the article is used here to single out the noun as being the only one of its kind, "the God" (the one and only) or "God". Therefore, Allāh is the Arabic word for "God". ʾilāh is the Arabic cognate of the ancient Semitic name for God, El.

The phrase is first found in the second verse of the first sura of the Qur'an (Al-Fatiha). So frequently do Muslims and Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians invoke this phrase that the quadriliteral verb hamdala (Arabic: حَمْدَلَ), "to say al-ḥamdu li-llāh" was coined, and the derived noun ḥamdala is used as a name for this phrase.

The triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D (Arabic: ح م د), meaning "praise", can also be found in the names Muhammad, Mahmud, Hamid and Ahmad, among others.

Translation

English translations of alhamdulillah include:

Variants

Various Islamic phrases include the Tahmid, most commonly:

Arabic
Qurʾanic Spelling
Transliteration
IPA
Phrase
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِʾalḥamdu lillāhi
/ʔal.ħam.du lil.laː.hi/
All praise is due to God.
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّٰهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَʾalḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-ʿālamīna
/ʔal.ħam.du lil.laː.hi rab.bi‿l.ʕaː.la.miː.na/
All praise is due to God, Lord of all the worlds.
سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna -llāhi wa-bi-ḥamdihī
/sub.ħaː.na‿ɫ.ɫaː.hi wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is God and by His praise.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna rabbiya l-ʿaẓīmi wa-bi-ḥamdihī
/sub.ħaː.na rab.bi.ja‿l.ʕa.ðˤiː.mi wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is my Lord, the Great, and by His praise.
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ وَبِحَمْدِهِsubḥāna rabbiya l-ʾaʿlā wa-bi-ḥamdihī
/sub.ħaː.na rab.bi.ja‿l.ʔaʕ.laː wa.bi.ħam.di.hiː/
Glorified is my Lord, the Most High, and by His praise.

See also

References

  1. "Oil found in Gambia, West African nation". The Day. New London, Connecticut. 18 February 2004.
  2. "alhamdulillah". Lexico. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  3. P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C. E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W. P. Heinrichs, eds. (2012). "taḥmīd". Encyclopaedia of Islam, Glossary and Index of Terms (2nd ed.). Brill. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei2glos_SIM_gi_04657.
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