Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book on Oneness of Allah (God) · Chapter On The Meanings of the Names of Allah and their Derivatives · Volume 1, book 3, chapter 16, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنِ الْقَاسِمِ بْنِ يَحْيَى عَنْ جَدِّهِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ رَاشِدٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الله بْنِ سِنَانٍ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) عَنْ تَفْسِيرِ بِسْمِ الله الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ قَالَ الْبَاءُ بَهَاءُ الله وَالسِّينُ سَنَاءُ الله وَالْمِيمُ مَجْدُ الله وَرَوَى بَعْضُهُمْ الْمِيمُ مُلْكُ الله وَالله إِلَهُ كُلِّ شَيْ‏ءٍ الرَّحْمَنُ بِجَمِيعِ خَلْقِهِ وَالرَّحِيمُ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ خَاصَّةً.

Published English translation

1. A group of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from al-Qasim ibn Yahya from his grandfather al-Hassan ibn Rashid from ‘Abdallah ibn Sinan who has said the following: “I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) about the interpretation of ‘In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful.’ (Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim) He (the Imam (as)) replied, “B is Baha ’Ullah (the beauty of Allah); and S is Sana ’Ullah (the radiance of Allah); and M is Majdullah (the grandeur of Allah), or according to some other narrators, M is Mulkullah (the kingdom of Allah); and Allah means the god of all things. (He is) al-Rahman (merciful) to all of His creatures, and (He is) Al-Rahim (merciful) to the believers in particular.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: ضعيف

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (2/37)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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