بسم الله

Arabic

Arabic phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

Alternative forms

• بِٱسْمِ ٱللّٰه (bismi llāh)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bis.mi‿l.laːh/

Phrase

بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ • (bi-smi llāhi)

1. bismillah, in the name of God

Related terms

• بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ (bismi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi)
• إِنْ شَاءَ ٱللّٰهُ (ʔin šāʔa llāhu, “if God wills”)
• مَا شَاءَ ٱللّٰهُ (mā šāʔa llāhu, “what God wills”)
• بِإذْنِ ٱللّٰهِ (biʔiḏni llāhi, “by the permission of God”)
• سُبْحَانَ ٱللّٰهِ (subḥāna llāhi, “glory be to God”)
• ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ (l-ḥamdu lillāhi, “all praise is for God”)
• أَسْتَغْفِرُ ٱللّٰهِ (ʔastaḡfiru llāhi, “I seek forgiveness from God”)
• اَللّٰهُ أَكْبَرُ (allāhu ʔakbaru, “God is greater”)
• اَللّٰهُمَّ (allāhumma, “God; O God”)
• آيَةُ ٱللّٰه (ʔāyatu llāh, “ayatollah, sign of God”)

Descendants

• → Bashkir: бисмилла (bismilla)
• → Kazakh: бісмілдә (bısmıldä)
• → Mandinka: Bisimilaay
• → Malay: sembelih (by metathesis)

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بِسْمِ ٱللّٰه (bismi llāh)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [bis.mil.ˈlɑːh]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [bɪs.mɪl.lɑ́ːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [bɪs.mɪl.lɑ́ːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [bɪs.mɪl.lɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [bis.mil.lɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [bes.mel.lɒ́ːʰ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [bis.mil.lɔ́ʱ]

Readings
Classical reading?	bismillāh
Dari reading?	bismillāh
Iranian reading?	besmellâh
Tajik reading?	bismilloh

Phrase

بسم الله • (besmellâh)

1. (Islam) bismillah, in the name of God

Derived terms

• بسمل (besmel, “slaughtered”)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “بسم الله”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim