The Ninety-Nine Names · the 79th name
الْبَرّ
Al-Barr
The Source of Goodness
- The rootب ر ر
- From the rootbarra: to be good, kind, dutiful; birr is the goodness owed to parents, and the word for dry land
The essay
Birr is the Qur'an's word for goodness that is done, not felt: the goodness owed to parents, the righteousness the Book defines by a list of actions rather than a state of mind. Al-Barr is the source of it. The verse where the Name appears is spoken by people already safe, remembering what they used to do: we used to call upon Him; indeed it is He who is the Beneficent, the Merciful. The Name is remembered from the far side.
In the Qur'an
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبۡلُ نَدۡعُوهُۖ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلۡبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
We used to call upon Him before. He is the Source of Goodness, the Ever-Merciful.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
Do the birr you owe. Start with whichever parent is harder to call.
Read beside it