3الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِUzunoglu et al.The All-Merciful, the Compassionate;1In the Basmalah, and repeated again here in the Fātiḥah, there are two names of mercy, al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm. The first name of Allah denotes the all-embracing mercy that brings things into existence, preserves them and provides every creature with all its needs, irrespective of whether that creature is a man, an animal, an insect, a Muslim, or an unbeliever. The second name of Allah denotes selective mercy, reaching those whom Allah wishes to guide to His path, eventually to reach everlasting bliss in Paradise. The English rendering of these two terms as the All-Merciful, the Compassionate, is inadequate, but no alternative is fully satisfactory.