Shin-Lamedh-Mem is a triconsonantalroot of many Semitic words (many of which are used as names).[1] The root meaning translates to "whole, safe, intact, unharmed, to go free, without blemish". Its earliest known form is in the name of Shalim, the ancient god of dusk of Ugarit. Derived from this are meanings of "to be safe, secure, at peace", hence "well-being, health" and passively "to be secured, pacified, submitted".
Arabic salām (سَلاَم), Maltese sliem, Hebrew šālōm (שָׁלוֹם), Ge'ezsälam (ሰላም), Syriacšlama (pronounced Shlama, or Shlomo in the Western Syriac dialect) (ܫܠܡܐ) are cognate Semitic terms for 'peace', deriving from a Proto-Semitic*šalām-.
Given names related to the same root include Solomon (Süleyman), Absalom, Selim, Salem, Salim, Salma, Salmah, Salman, Selimah, Shelimah, Salome, Szlama (Polish) etc.
Arabic (and by extension Maltese), Hebrew, Ge'ez, and Aramaic have cognate expressions meaning 'peace be upon you' used as a greeting:
Arabic: As-salāmu ʻalaykum (السلام عليكم) is used to greet others and is an Arabic equivalent of 'hello'. The appropriate response to such a greeting is "and upon you be peace" (wa-ʻalaykum as-salām).
Maltese: Sliem għalikom.
Hebrew: Shālôm ʻalêḵem (שלום עליכם) is the equivalent of the Arabic expression, the response being עליכם שלום ʻAlêḵem shālôm, 'upon you be peace'.
The Arabic word salām is used in a variety of expressions and contexts in Arabic and Islamic speech and writing.『Al-Salām』is one of the 99 names of God in Islam, and also a male given name in conjunction with ʻabd. ʻAbd al-Salām translates to 'Slave of [the embodiment of] Peace', i.e. of Allah.[5]
The word إسلامʾislām is a verbal noun derived from s-l-m, meaning "submission" (i.e. entrusting one's wholeness to a higher force), which may be interpreted as humility. "One who submits" is signified by the participle مسلم, Muslim (fem. مسلمة, muslimah).[6]
The word is given a number of meanings in the Qur'an. In some verses (āyāt), the quality of Islam as an internal conviction is stressed: "Whomsoever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam."[7] Other verses connect islām and dīn (usually translated as "religion"): "Today, I have perfected your religion (dīn) for you; I have completed My blessing upon you; I have approved Islam for your religion."[8] Still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith.[9]
The Koine GreekNew Testament text uses eirēnē (εἰρήνη) for 'peace',[10] which perhaps[citation needed] represents Jesus saying šlama; this Greek form became the northern feminine name Irene. In the Epistles, it often occurs alongside the usual Greek greeting chairein (χαίρειν) in the phrase 'grace and peace'. However, comparison of the Greek Septuagint and Hebrew MasoreticOld Testament texts shows some instances where shalom was translated instead as soteria (σωτηρία, meaning 'salvation').[11]
^Entry for šlm, p. 2067, Appendix B: Semitic Roots, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ISBN0-618-08230-1.
