Alef-lam- mim

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

الٓمٓ (١) ذَٲلِكَ ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَ‌ۛ فِيهِ‌ۛ هُدً۬ى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ (٢) ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقۡنَـٰهُمۡ يُنفِقُونَ (٣) وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ وَبِٱلۡأَخِرَةِ هُمۡ يُوقِنُونَ (٤) أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ عَلَىٰ هُدً۬ى مِّن رَّبِّهِمۡ‌ۖ وَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ (٥) إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ سَوَآءٌ عَلَيۡهِمۡ ءَأَنذَرۡتَهُمۡ أَمۡ لَمۡ تُنذِرۡهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ (٦) خَتَمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمۡ وَعَلَىٰ سَمۡعِهِمۡ‌ۖ وَعَلَىٰٓ أَبۡصَـٰرِهِمۡ غِشَـٰوَةٌ۬‌ۖ وَلَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ۬ (٧) وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ ءَامَنَّا بِٱللَّهِ وَبِٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِ وَمَا هُم بِمُؤۡمِنِينَ 

Alif. Lam. Mim. (1) This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who ward off (evil). (2) Who believe in the Unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them; (3)And who believe in that which is revealed unto thee and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of the Hereafter. (4) These depend on guidance from their Lord. These are the successful. (5) As for the Disbelievers, Whether thou warn them or thou warn them not it is all one for them; they believe not. (6) Allah hath sealed their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom. (7) And of mankind are some who say: We believe in Allah and the Last Day, when they believe not. (8)

It seems that we are out of clue to understand the first word / verse of "Al-bagarah". Although this three letter word does not make much of a sense on its own but appeared to be the first verse. Perhaps it is one of the mysteries of Quran for all times. An eager and restless human heart, however, can not be deprived of knowing or hearing from anyone who loves. so his heart makes every attempt to make sense of all singes and clues on a love letter he may receive assuming that there is such relationship. That is how we come to an interpretation which is , above all, personal and heart worming rather than being right or wrong type of answers.


That said, we can find this word "Alam" in quite a few verses through out Quran mostly meaning as a doubting / question mark that comes first instead of last. One ,however, may argue those usages have different "TAJVID" and are pronounced differently, yet it bears same doubtfulness connotation in all cases. it also appears the only place it has been used and repeated exactly in the same way ; at a start of a Sura as a complete verse is interestingly enough next Sura "Al-i-mraan". Looking at the context of these two Sura, at least their opening verses, both attends the doubt that we all may have about this book "Quran" primarily and then the God himself consequently, at our first encounter with this text.


Al-Bagarah starts upfront, with emphasizing there is no doubt in this book and Quran is meant to be guidelines for "Motageen " who are the one believe in what can not been seen , do praying and share their gain of world with others .It continues with giving more description of who this text will be of help and guidance Similarly, in the first verses of "Aal-i-mraan" we can see God is further clarifying what Qur'an is; confirming of "Torah" & Bible" that has been descended to mankind before and who can benefit from all these scriptures. Quran continues, in both Suras" that how people are divided in believers and those reject the truth with clear outcome and endings of heaven and hell.


Perhaps we can conclude that God has started his book / his message with first attending the doubt of man by bringing the word "Alam" at the beginning of these two Suras. So everything starts with you deciding about your doubt, if there is any. Perhaps all the remaining of these two long Suras are God's attempt to not only show us he knows our doubtful nature but also how much he is willing to show us evidence to make us see him through the unseen thereby believing in Quran as shear truth having come directly from him As we all seem to see him every now and then and seem to fail finding him where we look most of the time, may God shed his light of love upon our hearts so that we can understand his words and his verses as go through Quran.



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Starting with "Hamd", I found 11 verses in which it has been used. There may be more or less though. One thing they all seem to imply is God likes to be acknowledged and praised exclusively as he wants us to see him behind everything done in this world.  By praising him we are telling him that we see you and we praise you for your everyday managing the world and subsequently our affairs.   There are obviously other people or other apparent means that seem to be the driving forces of all events taking place in world, yet he urges us to come to belief that he is the one in disguise of all these earthly  interactions and causes. 

"Abd" is usually translated to worship.  In fact it means more like being a slave of some one else. So what is the difference; if you understand it as worship then comes with it a religion full of rituals that you will have to do in order to prove you worship him. You become more a slave of rituals than a slave of him.  You will have to make yourself used to regular habitual acts of worships to prove to God and to your self that you are worshiping God despite your inside that may be totally out of him and may be in possession of many but him.

In contrast if "Abd" ,as I found in 50 verses, is to be understood as being surrounded to God as a slave puts his life in hands of his master, seeks what pleases him or ,for the best part, lives and breathes only and merely for  him regardless of different situations or whatever actions being involved in, then it brings you another religion; the one of engagement to the love of God. In that what ever you do is only for him, it is only an act of your love toward him, it is an energizing light that comes out of you, enlightening yourself and everything around you.   This way, it does not matter what you do or how you do any ritual or your mundane , what matters most is if you do it for God or not.

Last word in this post is "Magzoob" which comes from "Gazab" meaning anger. We can probably see this word used in 10/11 verses in different forms mostly showing anger of God in their context. The question however is , in the last verse of "Al-faatiha", if there are people who are guided and there are people who are lost ( the 1st & 3rd group) then why God may become angry with the middle group.  Could this anger means he cares for some who have a potential to be guided and come back to him ?  Could his anger be a sign of his love for us although it may feel painful and seem harsh on us ? If some one really loves another, isn't ii usually the case when one side shows ignorance the other party becomes very sensetive and usually angry ,to say the least ? 

Al-Faatiha - The Opening 1:2-7

5ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ 2 ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 3 مَـٰلِكِ يَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ  4 إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ  ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ  6  صِرَٲطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ غَيۡرِ ٱلۡمَغۡضُوبِ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ   

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, (2) The Beneficent, the Merciful. (3) Owner of the Day of Judgment, (4)Thee  we worship; Thee  we ask for help. (5) Show us the straight path, (6) The path of those whom Thou hast favoured. Not  of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray. (7)

In these very first verses of Quran, we encounter with God for the first time and "Faatiha" is how he introduces him self to humans : "I am who you are looking for, to praise to call for help and who will love you back. I am the one who cares for the entire world. I am the one that you will need me after worlds too." Then he talks for us as a father put words in the mouth of his child; "You are the only Lord for us and you are the only helper we ever need. Guide us through the path toward your self as the ones you paved the way for, not those you frowned upon or the lost." 

This is how he want us to know him first and for ever. This is defining a relationship that would change our lives if it touches us. We would probably need no more of Quran if these verses would had deeply stroked our heart. Perhaps, the rest of Quran is primarily clarifying these lines and the intended relationship between God and us.

The key words and my main concentration are these words : " حَمۡدُ" and " عۡبُدُ" which nearly mean praise and worship (= as suggested by most translations.). Firstly; why God would need our praise or how it helps humans ? Secondly; are humans supposed to worship God by life long rituals or he may possibly mean some thing else by "Abd" ?

Another issue that comes to my minde is in the last verse; as described by God, there are three types of people when it comes to the right path. First is the "guided ones", second are the ones  "frowned at" and finally the last group are the "lost ones."   The first and the last are probably easy to understand but the middle group needs some thinking and searching around the key word of " مَغۡضُوبِ" . So we will need to look up these three words in Quran and find out how they have been used in order to come to understand what exactly their creator means by these wordings.

"Rahman" & "Rahim"

  Well I found 6 verses with "Rahman" and 61 verses with "Rahim" . while the number of verses with each may vary from these nos -depending on your way of search- , it definitely shows that "Rahim" has been used by far more than "Rahman".  This, however, does not tell us the difference in meaning and their application. 

When reading through all verses with "Rahman" it seams to me that it referes to the mechanism of how we can manage our affairs so that we first ask God for a specific help which is normally granted since he is "Raman".  This is an initiation of a relationship and at this stage is available to any one asking for help, or any one chooses to see God at the end of all rops  running the world.  "Rahman" is paving the way out, so that we can take our turn and make an effort for him.

Now going through the second group of verses with "Rahim" it shows a special kindness, a relationship showing he is kind, he cares, he is there for us. "Rahim" is not initiation of a relationship, it is the love and care that he gives us back in reward to a step that we have gone toward him.  It is the especial attention makes up a motherhood relationship, which when you lack you miss out a major nutrition for your soul to excel.  We may be able to find a remedy for our childhood losses by a true love relationship in our adulthood yet we will never find a replacement for the relationship that we may enjoy with God as the only being that is with us forever. 

In other words, we will never feel calm and settled in our lives unless we have felt the love and care that universe or God is trying to show us.  So we start Quran and everything else with these magic words  "In the of God who is "Rahman" which means facilitator / initiator in his relationship with us and then his "Rahim" ; loving us back when we take every step toward him in our choices and deeds. 

In The Name of God

So, here we are beginning this venture.  First thing comes to my mind about Quran is;  if it is a creation of God then it probably has to be very similar to his other creations such as the whole World.  By that I mean I expect myself not to be able to understand the entire World, but only as much as I personally put effort, will and concentration on specific questions about World through out my life time.

I therefore, will probably raise more questions than finding answers as I read through Quran same way as we struggle to discover the World more and more.

Then, I have to emphasize that I will not, and probably no one will, be in or near a position to make sense of Quran word by word or verse by verse at all.  We can, however, occasionally see and find new meanings to a very old sacred text which will shed light on our souls and our lives as we live today.  If we ask God to show us, then we will undoubtedly feel his love and energy fill our spirit.

For reading and hearing Quran online there are many sources, I find www.globalquran.com a handy place where you can hear its text recited in Arabic with its translation in English plus any other language you may need.  Another online source is ; www.quranexplorer.com

Shall we start reading this book and try to open our hearts to its light beyond its words with the opening Sorah; Al-Faatiha

                         بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ      

                           In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful 

Regardless of different translations for one word or verse,  question is what is the difference between Rahman and Rahim? Why the first time we name god it starts with these two adjectives ?

My way to answer these and all future questions is to search up these two words in Quran itself and see in what situations and how exactly they have been used, this way we should be able to get a feeling for their meaning as it has been used by God as opposed to going to so many other sources to find the history of those words with all the controversies  attached.  

Now let's do our homeworks and searches to come back on next post.....