Primarily, rihm means “womb”, so that its meaning of “kinship” carries the visceral notion of being born of the same womb: all animate and inanimate beings are siblings. This word is also the root of the first attribute of the Divine: al-Rahmân. Usually translated as “the Compassionate”, this divine name can be understood more literally as the Great Womb, that gave birth to all things, and whose love for all created things is, like a mother’s, equally unconditional.
