The Holy Qor-aan 001:002
ؕ اَلۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَۙ
Aul-haum-do lay il-laa-hay raub-bay il-aa-la-meen
All real thanks are due to Allah, the Lord Provident to the Universe.
- اَلۡ — Aul — The (= The Arabic word ‘aul’ expresses two distinct meanings. 1. The Particular One. 2 – All in a category; real; total. Together they convey what is only the best, the tops)
- حَمۡدُ — Haum-do — Thanks (= n., Appreciation; gratitude; praise)
- لِ — Lay … (il) — For (= Concerning; regarding; relative to; with intent to; for the attention, benefit, object, purpose or reason of)
- اللّٰهِ — Laa-hay — Allah (= The Almighty God; The only One worthy of worship)
- رَبِّ — GOD / LORD (= The Almighty Allah who fills all needs of all creatures. Cherisher. Creator. Guardian. Lord Provident. Master. The Only One Who provides all that sustains life. Ultimate Provider of air, water, food and whatever we and all other creatures need to live and subsist. See 001:002)
- الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَۙ — Aa-la-meen — The Universe (= n., pl., As an attribute of God Almighty the word implies no limits. It means the Universe, all His creations, all that exists in the whole Universe, has life, and the Mankind. See Note 001:002. A/t/a, ‘worlds,’ ‘of the Creation’ and ‘Alamn (mankind, Jinn and all that exists’)
** Note 001:002: The word الْعٰلَمِيْنَ means the worlds, the whole wide world, the Universe, all that Almighty God has created. The word is used in this and many other verses including 002:132, 006:072, 006:163, 026:017, 026:023, 026:048, 026:078, 026:099, 026:110, 026:128, 026:146, 026:165, 026:181, 026:193, 039:076, 040:066, 040:067, 059:017 and 081:030.
Some translations limited the meanings of the word الْعٰلَمِيْنَ in relation to man to a Time and Place like the age or nations of the time, contemporaries in towns or territory of a known period, and people in given cities or countries. Besides various translations of this word in 005:116, 006:087 and 006:091, following are those of verse 003:034: — M Zafrulla Khan narrowed it down to mean only the “people of their times.” — Amatul Rahman Omar verbalized it for “all people of time.” — Dr Al-Hilali and Dr Khan included the entire “mankind and jinn of their times.” — N J Dawood expanded it further by saying “all His creatures.”
The Holy Qor-aan has used the attribute رَب with the word الْعٰلَمِيْنَ in many places such as 001:002, 006:046, 007:055, 010:011, 039:076, 040:066, 059:017, etc.
