Rūḥ
/ruːħ/noun
In Islamic and Arabic thought, the soul, spirit, or life-giving breath.
Did you know?The Qur’an describes the rūḥ as a divine mystery whose full nature lies beyond ordinary human knowledge.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*rūḥ-
“Breath, wind, or spirit; a reconstructed ancestral Semitic root”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
rūḥ (روح)
“Spirit, soul, breath, or life-force”
7th Century
Qur’anic Arabic
rūḥ
“A spirit or divine life-giving agency, including references to revelation and creation”
Medieval Islamic scholarship
Arabic
al-rūḥ
“The human or spiritual soul, widely discussed in theology, philosophy, and mysticism”
19th–20th Century
English
ruh
“A transliterated Arabic term used in English-language Islamic, Orientalist, and comparative-religion writing”
Modern English
English
rūḥ
“A scholarly transliteration retaining Arabic pronunciation and diacritics”