how do we recite Allah?

In Gurbani Allah is sometimes written as ਅਲਹੁ

There is no kanna in this word? I have heard some Singhs recite the word as Aloe and others as Alloo which sounds like potato ? What is the proper recitation of this beautiful word?

Should there be an addak under ਲ

sufis recite Allah as "Alahu" when they do simran... but of course in gurmukhi the trailing aunkar is often silent. also, ਅਲਹੁ is sometimes spelled with a khanna (aalah) and sometimes without the trailing aunkar. there's some variation with dialect.

in english we spell it "allah" (which looks like it should have a long "aah" at the end, but when pronounced by muslims it sounds more like "allah" with short ਅ sounds for both vowels, an addak on the ਲ and the second ਅ pronounced far back in the throat.


i hope my understanding is even close to correct. i love linguistics.

Thanks for the explanation Bhenji I did not taken into consideration how Sufis recite Allah.

You are right I have heard them recite Allah as Alahu when doing simran. I have also heard them recite

HOoah Hooah ( he/God).

But Im not sure if Guru Sahib would be using this mantra in Gurbani.


I too have seen Allah with a kanna

ਅਲਾਹੁ ਅਲਖੁ ਅਗੰਮੁ ਕਾਦਰੁ ਕਰਣਹਾਰੁ ਕਰੀਮੁ ॥

ਭਗਤਿ ਨਿਰਾਲੀ ਅਲਾਹ ਦੀ ਜਾਪੈ ਗੁਰ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ॥

ਹਵਾਲ ਮਾਲੂਮੁ ਕਰਦੰ ਪਾਕ ਅਲਾਹ ॥- VaaheGuru!


Also I wandering in Jaap Sahib is the word Allah he(n) Ajah he(n)

ਅਲਾਹ ਹੈਂ ॥ ਅਜਾਹ ਹੈਂ ॥

because I have heard people recite A- laah he(n) instead of Allah he(N)

daas pronounces this

alaaha
ajaaha

In Arabic it's usually pronounced Allaah, so Allaah would be correct if you want to follow the original language.

But similarly to Gurmukhi, the classical Arabic script has vowels at the end of words used for grammatical purposes.. so it can be written and pronounced as Allaahu too (like in "allaahu akbar").

In Arabic Allah is written as اللہ i.e. there is no "u" sound in the end. In Gurmat at most places, this word is written as ਅਲਹੁ, ਅਲਹ i.e. the spellings are same as Arabic. At some places it is also written as ਅਲਾਹੁ, ਅਲਾਹ.

In Arabic, this word does not have an Alif (kanna) in the end but he (haaha) but mostly this word is pronounced as Allah and in Gurmukhi the spellings have been kept same as Arabic i.e. without Kanna in the end. The pronunciation of this word in Gurbani is Allah and not Allaho. The aunkad is there to denote that this is a noun in Ik-Vachan (singular).

Allah is not pronounced as Allah-hu in normal cases. Allah hu Akbar means Allah is Great. Hu is not part of Allah.

In the following Pankitis the word ਅਲਹੁ should be pronounced as Allah and not as Allaho, which is not same as اللہ:

ਕਲਿ ਮਹਿ ਬੇਦੁ ਅਥਰਬਣੁ ਹੂਆ ਨਾਉ ਖੁਦਾਈ ਅਲਹੁ ਭਇਆ ॥

ਜਾ ਫਿਰਿ ਦੇਖਾ ਤਾ ਮੇਰਾ ਅਲਹੁ ਬੇਲੀ ॥3॥

ਅਲਹੁ ਨ ਵਿਸਰੈ ਦਿਲ ਜੀਅ ਪਰਾਨ ॥4॥10॥

ਅਲਹੁ ਏਕੁ ਮਸੀਤਿ ਬਸਤੁ ਹੈ ਅਵਰੁ ਮੁਲਖੁ ਕਿਸੁ ਕੇਰਾ ॥


In the following Pankitis the aunkad of the ਅਲਹੁ has been removed because of the presence of ਕਾ, ਕੀ and ਸੇਤੀ etc but the Uchaaran is still Allah. In the Second Pankiti below the aunkad has been removed because there is Sambandhak ਨੇ Gupt after it:

ਕਬੀਰੁ ਪੂੰਗਰਾ ਰਾਮ ਅਲਹ ਕਾ ਸਭ ਗੁਰ ਪੀਰ ਹਮਾਰੇ ॥5॥

ਅਵਲਿ ਅਲਹ ਨੂਰੁ ਉਪਾਇਆ ਕੁਦਰਤਿ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਬੰਦੇ ॥

ਕਬੀਰ ਅਲਹ ਕੀ ਕਰਿ ਬੰਦਗੀ ਜਿਹ ਸਿਮਰਤ ਦੁਖੁ ਜਾਇ ॥

ਅਲਹ ਸੇਤੀ ਰਤਿਆ ਏਹੁ ਸਚਾਵਾਂ ਸਾਜੁ ॥108॥

Bhul Chukk dee Maafi jee.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

So, is it Veer Ji that same rule applies for Aunkad Disappearence for each noun, as above in ਅਲਹੁ

Bohut Kirpa Ji.

Haanji MB Singh jeeo, the rule is that for the most part, if there is a Sambandhak (ka, ke, da, de etc) after a noun, it removes its aunkad.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

Is Allah with a Kanna there for poetic reasons and should be pronounced with more enthusiasm . FOr example we would recite

ਅਲਾਹੁ ਅਲਖੁ ਅਗੰਮੁ ਕਾਦਰੁ ਕਰਣਹਾਰੁ ਕਰੀਮੁ ॥


as Allaaaah Alakh Agam Kadar, Karnhar Raheeeeeeeeem.

Thanks for posting this. Always wondered on how to pronounce Allah in BaNee

Good post Bhai Kulbir Singh Jee. That post belongs in the literature section if it is not there already.

There is actually a way Arabs recite Allah, and since I grew up in the Middle East, I always found is really awesome.