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Mercy

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Compassionate treatment, forgiveness, and kindness, especially as an attribute of a divine being.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Faith and Doubt in Poetry — Poetry has long been a place for speaking towards God, searching for meaning, resisting certainty and giving shape to silence. This guide explores devotional traditions and poems of doubt while offering practical ways to read and listen across differing beliefs.

Detailed Definition
Mercy is a foundational virtue in most world religions, from God's Chesed in Judaism, to Allah's Al-Rahman (The Merciful) in Islam, to the Karuna (compassion) central to Buddhism. It signifies a loving, forgiving, and benevolent aspect of the divine that humans are also called to emulate. In poetry, appeals for or reflections on divine mercy explore themes of human fallibility, grace, redemption, and the hope for forgiveness beyond judgment. It provides a profound counterpoint to themes of sin, wrath, and justice, highlighting the relational nature of the sacred.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Islamic poetry, Mercy (Rahman, Rahim) opens every surah: “Bismillah—Mercy’s name before every word”; In Rumi’s verse, divine Mercy dissolves judgment: “You weep for sin—I laugh in Mercy’s ocean”; In Christian mysticism, Mercy is God’s embrace: “No ledger of faults—only Mercy’s arms, wide and warm”; Contemporary poets frame Mercy as action: “Mercy is feeding the stranger, not just praying for them.”
Additional Notes
Mercy (Hebrew: chesed; Arabic: rahma) is a core divine attribute—God as “merciful and gracious” in Judaism, Allah as Ar-Rahman in Islam, and Christ as embodiment of mercy in Christianity; unlike mere pity, mercy implies active compassion and covenantal loyalty; poets use it to counterbalance judgment, portraying grace as an unearned, flowing river that renews brokenness.
Also Known As
Rahma Compassion Divine Mercy Forgiveness Pitty Pity Clemency
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