Alhamdulillah
Arabic phrase, "Praise be to God"
- 2 min read
- 4 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Muslims, Muhammad and Christianity
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 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.
A similar variation used in Christianity is the phrase "Hallelujah", an adaptation of the Hebrew word found in the Jewish Book of Psalms.
Origins
The phrase "al-ḥamdu li-llāh" is believed to be an Arabization of the Greek phrase, "glory to God" (δόξα τῷ θεῷ), mediated through the Syriac expression "praise be to God" (teshbuhtâ l-alâhâ).
Sign in to keep reading
3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.
Meaning
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 combination 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 first verse of the first Surah of the Quran (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:
- "all praise is due to God alone" (Muhammad Asad)
- "all the praises and thanks be to God" (Muhammad Muhsin Khan)
- "praise be to God" (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Marmaduke Pickthall)
- "all praise is due to God" (Sahih International)
Variants
Various Islamic phrases include the Tahmid, most commonly: