رسول

ﷶ U+FDF6, ﷶ ARABIC LIGATURE RASOUL ISOLATED FORM ← ﷵ [U+FDF5] Arabic Presentation Forms-A ﷷ → [U+FDF7]

Arabic

Etymology

Root
ر س ل (r s l)
10 terms

Compare أَرْسَلَ (ʔarsala, “to send”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ra.suːl/

Noun

رَسُول • (rasūl) m (plural رُسُل (rusul))

1. messenger; emissary; envoy; delegate

   Synonyms: مُرْسَل (mursal), قَيْنَاب (qaynāb), قَانِب (qānib), فَيْج (fayj), فُرَانِق (furāniq)

2. (religion) messenger, apostle
   1. (Islam) a prophet who is sent by God with a mission (precise definitions vary)

      Synonym: مُرْسَل (mursal)

      رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ ― rasūlu llāhi ― Messenger of God (Muhammad)

      اَلرَّسُول ― ar-rasūl ― the Messenger (Muhammad)

   2. (Christianity) an apostle (leading disciple of Jesus)

      بُولُسُ الرَسُول ― būlusu r-rasūl ― Paul the Apostle

      أَعْمَالُ الرُّسُل ― ʔaʕmālu r-rusul ― Acts of the Apostles

3. angel
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 42:51:

     وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِن وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولًا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ

     wamā kāna libašarin ʔan yukallimahu l-lahu ʔillā waḥyan ʔaw min warāʔi ḥijābin ʔaw yursila rasūlan fayūḥiya biʔiḏnihi mā yašāʔu ʔinnahu ʕaliyyun ḥakīmun

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رَسُول rasūl	الرَّسُول ar-rasūl	رَسُول rasūl
Nominative	رَسُولٌ rasūlun	الرَّسُولُ ar-rasūlu	رَسُولُ rasūlu
Accusative	رَسُولًا rasūlan	الرَّسُولَ ar-rasūla	رَسُولَ rasūla
Genitive	رَسُولٍ rasūlin	الرَّسُولِ ar-rasūli	رَسُولِ rasūli
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رَسُولَيْن rasūlayn	الرَّسُولَيْن ar-rasūlayn	رَسُولَيْ rasūlay
Nominative	رَسُولَانِ rasūlāni	الرَّسُولَانِ ar-rasūlāni	رَسُولَا rasūlā
Accusative	رَسُولَيْنِ rasūlayni	الرَّسُولَيْنِ ar-rasūlayni	رَسُولَيْ rasūlay
Genitive	رَسُولَيْنِ rasūlayni	الرَّسُولَيْنِ ar-rasūlayni	رَسُولَيْ rasūlay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رُسُل rusul	الرُّسُل ar-rusul	رُسُل rusul
Nominative	رُسُلٌ rusulun	الرُّسُلُ ar-rusulu	رُسُلُ rusulu
Accusative	رُسُلًا rusulan	الرُّسُلَ ar-rusula	رُسُلَ rusula
Genitive	رُسُلٍ rusulin	الرُّسُلِ ar-rusuli	رُسُلِ rusuli

Declension of noun رَسُول (rasūl)

Derived terms

• لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰه مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللّٰه (lā ʔilāha ʔillā llāh muḥammadun rasūlu llāh)

Descendants

• Hindustani

  → Hindi: रसूल (rasūl)

  → Urdu: رسول

• → Malay: rasul
  • Indonesian: rasul
  • → Maguindanao: rasul
• → Maranao: rasol
• → Ottoman Turkish: رسول (resul)
  • Turkish: resul
• → Rohingya: rosúl
• → Swahili: rasuli

See also

• نَبِيّ (nabiyy)

Proper noun

اَلرَّسُول • (ar-rasūl) m

1. (Islam) Muhammad (the Messenger)
   • Qur'an 4:170

     يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَاءَكُمُ الرَّسُولُ بِالْحَقِّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَآمِنُوا خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ

     yā ʔayyuhā n-nāsu qad jāʔakumu ar-rasūlu bi-l-ḥaqqi min rabbikum faʔāminū ḵayran lakum

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	—	الرَّسُول ar-rasūl	—
Nominative	—	الرَّسُولُ ar-rasūlu	—
Accusative	—	الرَّسُولَ ar-rasūla	—
Genitive	—	الرَّسُولِ ar-rasūli	—

Declension of noun الرَّسُول (ar-rasūl)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “رسل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Malay

Noun

رسول

1. Jawi spelling of rasul‎.

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَسُول (rasūl, “messenger, apostle”).

Noun

رسول • (resul) (definite accusative رسولی (resulı), plural رسل (rüsül) or رسلا (rüselâ))

1. messenger, emissary, envoy, a person appointed to bring messages

   Synonyms: ایلچی (elçi), خبرجی (haberci)

2. (Islam) prophet, messenger, someone who speaks by divine inspiration

   Synonyms: پیغامبر (peygamber), نبی (nebi), یالاواج (yalavac)

3. (Christianity) Apostle, any of the group of twelve disciples chosen by Jesus

   Synonyms: پیغامبر (peygamber), یالاواج (yalavac)

Derived terms

• رسولی (resuli, “quality or function of an envoy”)

Descendants

• Turkish: resul

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “resul”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3960b
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962) “resûl”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎ (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 1064
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “رسول”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 621b
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Propheta”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎, Vienna, column 1383
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “رسول”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 2315
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “resul”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “رسول”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 974b

Persian

Persian Wikipedia has an article on:

رسول

Wikipedia ^fa

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَسُول (rasūl).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɾa.ˈsuːl]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [rä.súːl]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [rä.súːl]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [rä.súːl]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [rä.súl̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹæ.súːl̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾä.súl]

Readings
Classical reading?	rasūl
Dari reading?	rasūl
Iranian reading?	rasul
Tajik reading?	rasul

Noun

Dari	رسول
Iranian Persian
Tajik	расул

رسول • (rasul) (plural رسل (rosol) or رسولان (rasulân))

1. messenger

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian رَسُول (rasūl), from Arabic رَسُول (rasūl). First attested in c. 1500 as Middle Hindi رسول (rsvl).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾə.suːl/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːl

Noun

رَسُول • (rasūl) m (formal plural رُسُل (rusul), Hindi spelling रसूल)

1. (Islam) Messenger, prophet

   Synonyms: پَیغَمْبَر (paiġambar), نَبی (nabī)

   رسول اللہ ﷺ

   rasūl ullāh (SAW)

   Prophet of God (PBUH)

2. (by extension) Prophet Muhammad
3. (Christianity) Apostle

   یوحنا رسول

   yūhannā rasūl

   John the Apostle

Declension

Declension of رسول
	singular	plural
direct	رَسُول (rasūl)	رَسُول (rasūl)
oblique	رَسُول (rasūl)	رَسُولوں (rasūlõ)
vocative	رَسُول (rasūl)	رَسُولو (rasūlo)

References

1. “رسول”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

Further reading

• “رسول”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “رسول”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]