Quranic root
رحم
r · ḥ · m
A root oriented toward tenderness, compassion, and beneficent favor.
The semantic field develops from compassionate feeling to enacted beneficence, while the womb and kinship are connected through the origin and bonds of birth. The divine names الرَّحْمَٰن and الرَّحِيم express this field as encompassing and abundant mercy, respectively, though the sources also record some synonymy between them.
- Maqāyīs · row 1986
- Mufradāt · row 541
- 9
- Quran-attested forms
- 14
- Quran senses
- 339
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
رَحِمَ
raḥima
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 28 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To show mercy, compassionate favor, or beneficent care toward someone.
Used of human or divine action. With God as subject, it denotes beneficent action rather than human emotional tenderness; Quranic forms include active, passive, and imperative constructions.
- Lane · entry 22807
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:16word 6
“He had Mercy on him”
Quran 24:56word 8
“receive mercy”
Quran 17:24word 9
“Have mercy on both of them”
رَحِمٌ
raḥimun
- Part of speech
- Noun · plural أَرْحَام
- Quran occurrences
- 12 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Womb: the bodily place and receptacle in which offspring originate and develop.
The Quranic form is the plural أَرْحَام, used for wombs in contexts concerning gestation and birth.
- Lane · entry 22816
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:228word 15
“their wombs”
Quran 4:1word 23
“and the wombs”
Kinship, a family relationship, or ties of blood relationship.
In أولو الأرحام and related constructions, it denotes kin relations. Legal usage can include relations without a prescribed inheritance share or agnatic status, and ذُو رَحِمٍ مَحْرَمٍ denotes a relation whom it is unlawful to marry.
- Lane · entry 22816
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 8:75word 11
“(of) blood relationship”
أَرْحَمُ
ʾarḥamu
- Part of speech
- Comparative adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 4 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
More merciful; most merciful.
Used comparatively and in the superlative expression أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ, “the most merciful of those who show mercy.”
- Lane · entry 22829
- Lane · entry 22822
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:151word 10
“(are) the Most Merciful”
Quran 12:64word 16
“(is the) Most Merciful”
مَرْحَمَةٌ
marḥamahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Compassion; merciful concern expressed toward another.
A noun of the mercy-and-compassion branch, used in the Quran in the construction بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ.
- Lane · entry 22818
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 90:17word 9
“to compassion”
رَحْمَةٌ
raḥmahun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 114 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Mercy: compassionate favor or beneficent care.
The ordinary Quranic abstract noun; when attributed to God, it denotes enacted beneficence rather than a human emotional state. It may be possessed, bestowed, received, or sought.
- Lane · entry 22818
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:57word 13
“and mercy”
A divinely bestowed prophetic commission or gift of prophecy.
A Quran-attested specialized interpretation of God’s تخصيص someone with His mercy; no modern verse location is assigned here because the relevant Lane citation uses historical citation conventions and the packet does not independently establish that exact location.
- Lane · entry 22818
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:74word 2
“for His Mercy”
Sustenance or the means of subsistence.
A specialized Quranic use explicitly identified in the expression occurring in the passage cited as Quran 41:50 by the lexical evidence.
- Lane · entry 22818
Selected Quran examples
Quran 41:50word 3
“mercy”
Rain as an act or manifestation of mercy.
A specialized Quranic interpretation of mercy in a rain-related context; the cited Lane reference is not converted into a modern verse location here.
- Lane · entry 22818
Plenty, abundance of herbage, or the goods and comforts of life.
A specialized Quranic use in contexts of abundance; the cited Lane references are preserved as lexical evidence without reconstructing modern locations.
- Lane · entry 22818
رُحْمٌ
ruḥmun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Affectionate mercy or compassionate closeness.
In وَأَقْرَبَ رُحْمًا, the form conveys an affectionate or compassionate relation; the Quranic interpretation should not be reduced to the ordinary abstract noun رَحْمَةٌ without noting this relational nuance.
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 18:81word 9
“(in) affection”
رَحِيمٌ
raḥīmun
- Part of speech
- Adjective · also substantivized
- Quran occurrences
- 116 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Abounding in mercy; merciful and beneficently disposed.
Applied to God as a divine epithet and also to human beings, including the Prophet. With God as subject, the term denotes beneficent action rather than emotional tenderness; in the Quran it commonly occurs as a predicate or epithet.
- Lane · entry 22822
- Lane · entry 22827
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 1:3word 2
“the Most Merciful”
Quran 9:128word 14
“(and) merciful”
Quran 12:98word 9
“the Most Merciful”
رَحْمَٰنُ
raḥmānu
- Part of speech
- Divine epithet / noun
- Quran occurrences
- 57 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
The All-Merciful or universally merciful; the divine name expressing encompassing mercy.
Used in the Quran as a name or epithet of God and not as an ordinary human adjective. The lexical discussion characterizes its mercy as encompassing all creation, including believer and unbeliever.
- Lane · entry 22822
- Mufradāt · row 541
Selected Quran examples
Quran 1:1word 3
“the Most Gracious”
Quran 20:5word 1
“The Most Gracious”
Quran 19:45word 8
“the Most Gracious”
رَاحِمٌ
rāḥimun
- Part of speech
- Active participle · plural رَاحِمِينَ
- Quran occurrences
- 6 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
One who shows mercy; merciful persons.
The Quranic form is the plural active participle رَاحِمِينَ, used in the superlative construction أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ and in descriptions of those who show mercy.
- Lane · entry 22822
- Lane · entry 22828
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:92word 11
“(of) those who show mercy”
Quran 23:109word 14
“(of) those who show mercy”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 1:1ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِthe Most Gracious
- 1:1ٱلرَّحِيمِthe Most Merciful
- 1:3ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِThe Most Gracious
- 1:3ٱلرَّحِيمِthe Most Merciful
- 2:37ٱلرَّحِيمُthe Most Merciful
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 21 Classical meanings
رَحِمَ
To pardon or forgive.
A classical extension of showing mercy, kept separate from the Quranic sense of beneficent mercy because the supplied Quran-focused evidence does not independently establish pardon as a distinct Quranic use of this verb.
- Lane · entry 22807
رَحُمَ / رَحُومٌ
To suffer a uterine complaint after giving birth, sometimes resulting in death.
Used of a woman or female animal, including a camel, ewe, or goat; the lexical descriptions concern a disorder of the womb after parturition.
- Lane · entry 22807
- Lane · entry 22826
رَحِمَ
Of a water-skin, to become spoiled and unable to retain water after being neglected or insufficiently greased.
A specialized inanimate use concerning a water-skin after it has been seasoned and then left untreated.
- Lane · entry 22807
رَحَامَةٌ
Being connected by relationship or kinship.
An infinitival noun denoting connection by family relationship; this is distinct from the Quranic nominal use of أَرْحَام for kin relations.
- Lane · entry 22807
رَحَّمَ
To invoke mercy for someone, as in saying, “May God have mercy on you.”
Form II construction with عَلَيْهِ; it is a conventional formula or expression of a wish for divine mercy.
- Lane · entry 22808
تَرَحَّمَ
To express or seek pity and compassion, or to show mercy toward another; sometimes to do so intensely or deliberately.
Form V usage may express a wish that God show mercy, an expression of pity, or an affected effort to show compassion; the sources report variation in its grammatical and semantic analysis.
- Lane · entry 22809
تَرَاحَمُوا
To show mercy, pity, or compassion to one another.
A reciprocal Form VI construction.
- Lane · entry 22810
اِسْتَرْحَمَ
To ask or demand mercy, pity, or compassion from someone.
Form X transitive request for another person’s mercy.
- Lane · entry 22811
أُمُّ رُحْمٍ
A name of Mecca, understood as “source of mercy.”
A proper-name expression rather than an ordinary productive meaning of رُحْمٌ.
- Lane · entry 22813
رَحَمٌ
The coming forth of the womb as a result of disease.
A specialized obstetric term, distinct from the ordinary noun for the womb and from the condition described by رَحُومٌ.
- Lane · entry 22815
رَحِمٌ
A felt relationship, consanguineous sympathy, or sense of blood connection.
A figurative use of the kinship noun, sometimes expressed in the phrase حَاسَّةُ رَحِمٍ.
- Lane · entry 22816
رَحِمٌ
The vulva.
An anatomical figurative or transferred use distinct from the primary sense “womb.”
- Lane · entry 22816
رَحْمَةٌ
Tenderness or compassionate feeling considered apart from its resulting beneficence.
A classical distinction within the mercy field; the Quranic form-level sense is stated in terms of mercy and beneficent care, while this entry records the abstract feeling considered on its own.
- Lane · entry 22818
رَحْمَةٌ
Pardon or forgiveness.
A classical nominal extension of mercy, not separately claimed as a Quranic lexical sense here.
- Lane · entry 22818
رُحْمَى
The invocation “May God have mercy on you.”
A substantive expression derived from the Form II mercy-invocation construction.
- Lane · entry 22820
رَحَمُوتٌ
Pity or compassion, especially in the fixed paired expression contrasting pity with fear.
Primarily occurs coupled with رَهَبُوت or its corresponding form in the proverbial expression “fear is better for you than compassion.”
- Lane · entry 22823
رَحِيمٌ
Treated or regarded with mercy or favor, and defended or supported.
A classical adjectival use in which the adjective describes the recipient of merciful treatment rather than the agent who shows mercy.
- Lane · entry 22827
رَاحِمٌ
Of a ewe or she-goat, having a swollen womb.
A specialized animal-health adjective, distinct from the active-participle sense “showing mercy.”
- Lane · entry 22828
مُرَحَّمٌ
Treated or regarded with much mercy, pity, or compassion.
The doubled consonant marks an intensive Form II passive-participial sense.
- Lane · entry 22831
المَرْحُومَةُ
A name of Medina.
A proper-name use of the passive-participial form.
- Lane · entry 22832
المَرْحُومُ
The object of mercy; in later usage, a deceased person regarded as having died in the true faith.
The later conventional honorific use is broader in reference but historically connected with being the recipient of divine mercy.
- Lane · entry 22832
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The distinction between رَحْمَٰن and رَحِيم is presented as a supported usage distinction, not an absolute etymological rule; the lexical evidence also records authorities who treat them as synonymous.
Several Lane Quran citations use historical citation conventions. Specialized interpretations have been represented where supported, but modern verse locations are given only where the QAC packet independently supplies the location securely.