تغمد الله الفقيد برحمته وأسكنه جنته وألهمكم الصبر والعزاء
Taghammada Allāhu al-Faqīda bi-Raḥmatih
A condolence to the bereaved: may Allah cover the departed with His mercy, house him in Paradise, and grant you patience and consolation
What it means
This is a customary prayer said to a family that has lost a member, at the house of mourning or at the funeral. Literally it means: “May Allah envelop the departed in His mercy, settle him in His garden, and inspire you with patience and consolation.” The verb taghammada means to cover or wrap, and al-faqīd is the one who has been lost, that is, the deceased. The words are spoken softly and briefly, as a gesture of sharing in the family’s loss.
It combines a prayer for the dead with a prayer for the living. Muslims turn to patience at a death in the spirit of the Quranic words “Surely we belong to Allah, and to Him we return” (2:156). The wording is a long-established courtesy, and people also use shorter words of comfort in their own language. Visitors usually say it on first meeting the family and may repeat it when they leave.
Often misunderstood as
That a condolence in English, such as “my condolences”, carries the same meaning, when the Arabic is a prayer for the dead and for the family.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 60, listed as TAGHAMMADA ALLAH AL FAQĪD BI RAḤMATIH WA ASKANAHU JANNATAH WA ALHAMAKUM AL ṢABRA WA'L AZĀ’.. The definition is restated here.