The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page xiv
xiv Essence of Islam-III ra. An abbreviation for radi-Allāho 'anhu/'anhā/'anhum meaning, "May Allah be pleased with him/her/them," is written after the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophetsa and of the Promised Messiahas. rh. An abbreviation for rahimahullah, meaning, "May Allah have mercy on him," is written after the names of deceased pious Muslims who are not Companions. 1 In transliterating Arabic words we have followed the fol- lowing system adopted by the Royal Asiatic Society. ث ح خ ذ ص ض ط ظ ع غ ق at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word 'honour'. th, pronounced like th in the English word 'thing'. h, a guttural aspirate, stronger than h. kh, pronounced like the Scotch ch in 'loch'. dh, pronounced like the English th in 'that'. ş, strongly articulated s. d, similar to the English th in 'this'. t, strongly articulated palatal t. 2, strongly articulated z. ', a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear. gh, a sound approached very nearly in the r 'grasseye' in French, and in the German r. It re- quires the muscles of the throat to be in the 'gar- gling' position whilst pronouncing it. q, a deep guttural k sound.