Explanation of the Bayquniyyah Poem
Commentary on the Basmala
…
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said:
“In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.”

The basmala is a verse from the Book of Allah, and thus it is part of His speech. It is placed at the beginning of every surah of the Noble Quran except Surah Barā’ah, for that surah is not opened with the basmala in deference to the practice of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them. Had the basmala been revealed at the start of this surah, it would have been preserved just as it has been for the other surahs; but it was not revealed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. The Companions were unsure whether Surah Barā’ah was a continuation of al-Anfāl or an independent surah, so they inserted a separator between the two without writing the basmala.

The basmala contains four grammatical elements: a prepositional phrase, a noun in the genitive, and two descriptive attributes. The preposition with its object is the word bi-sm (“in the name”). The noun in the genitive is the majestic Name “Allah.” The adjectives are “al-Rahman, al-Rahim” (“the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful”).

Every phrase introduced by a preposition must be connected to something—either to an explicit verb such as “stood,” or to something that conveys a verbal meaning, like an active or passive participle. In the basmala the connection is to an omitted element. What, then, is that omitted element?

The grammarians differed over how to identify it, but the most accurate and fitting view is that the omitted element is a delayed verb appropriate to the situation. For example: if a person says “bi-smillah” intending to read the poem, the reconstruction is “In the name of Allah, I read.” If the poet himself says it, the reconstruction is “In the name of Allah, I compose.”

Why, then, do we reconstruct it as a verb rather than, say, an active participle?