Selected Exegesis

“Allāh” is the most excellent name of God, who possesses all existential perfections, and “al-Raḥmān” and “al-Raḥīm” are among His attributes, indicating the mercy of that endless existence. The difference is that “Raḥmān” signifies the abundance of mercy, while “Raḥīm” signifies its constancy and permanence. Thus, “Raḥmān” is the God whose all-encompassing mercy includes everything and everyone (believer, disbeliever, this world and the hereafter), and such mercy is not in opposition to wrath; rather, wrath is also among its instances. On the other hand, “Raḥīm” is the God who has a special mercy for the believers, and this mercy is in contrast to His wrath. God, the Glorious, opens the Qurʾān and also the chapter with His name, and in this way, He teaches human beings the etiquette of beginning work with the name of God.