Bismillah in Arabic: Meaning and How to Write It

Bi means with or in, and ism means name, so bismi is in the name of. Allah is the name of the One Muslims worship. Ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim both come from the root r-h-m, which is connected to mercy and to the word for a mother's womb.

Ar-Rahman is often explained as mercy that is vast and covers all creation, and ar-Rahim as mercy that is constant and shown especially to believers. Translators render the pair in different ways, such as the Gracious, the Merciful or the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

The Bismillah stands at the start of 113 of the 114 surahs. The one exception is Surah At-Tawbah (9). In the verse numbering used on this site, the Bismillah of Surah Al-Fatihah is counted as its first verse (1:1). Scholars differ on whether the Bismillah is a verse of Al-Fatihah and of the other surahs, which is one reason verse counts differ slightly between traditions.

The phrase also appears inside a surah. In Surah An-Naml, the Queen of Sheba receives a letter from Solomon (Sulayman) that begins with it (27:30). So the full Bismillah occurs 114 times in the Quran in all. A shorter form appears in 11:41, where Noah (Nuh) tells his people to board the Ark in the name of Allah.

Muslims say Bismillah before beginning many everyday actions: eating, drinking, getting dressed, entering the house, starting a trip, or beginning to read the Quran. A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim reports that the Prophet ﷺ told a boy to mention Allah's name before eating. Sunan Abi Dawud and Sunan at-Tirmidhi record that if someone forgets at the start of a meal, they can say Bismillahi awwalahu wa akhirahu, in the name of Allah at its beginning and its end.

Saying it is a small way of starting an action with Allah in mind and asking for His blessing in it.

In writing, the alif of ism is dropped in this phrase, so بسم is joined straight to الله. Pronounce it as one flowing phrase: bis-mil-laah ir-rah-maan ir-ra-heem. The h in Rahman and Rahim is the breathy throat h (ح).

You may see it written as Bismillah, Bismilla, or Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. The short form Bismillah is what people usually say in daily life.