The opening statement of the Quran that also occurs at the start of 113 of the 114 suras of the Quran is:
1:1 In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
(١) بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
This powerful statement predates the Quran, and is confirmed by the Quran. In Sura 27: The Ant (Al-Naml / النمل) verse 30, Solomon sends a letter to the Queen of Sheba and starts his letter with this same statement.
27:30 “It is from Solomon, and it is, ‘ In the name of GOD, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. ‘
This shows that this statement existed way before the revelation of the Quran. For reference, Solomon’s reign is estimated to be from 970–931 BCE, while the Quran was first revealed in 610 CE.
Additionally, we see that Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are all Semitic languages. If we translate Bismillah to any of the Semitic languages, it will be pronounced roughly the same in each of these languages.
If we look at the use of the four words of Basmalah in the Quran, we see that these terms were all used by the messengers in the past, well before the revelation of the Quran.
Bism
Noah is one of the oldest messengers to have lived. In the following verse, we see him make his statement using the term “bismallah.”
11:41 He [Noah] said, “Come on board. In the name of GOD shall be its sailing, and its mooring. My Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.”
Allah, God, is used 2698 times in the Quran and by every prophet and messenger mentioned in the Quran.
Rahman
The Qur’an also describes God as “ar-Rahman” fifty-seven times in addition to the Bismillahs, and we see it used once by Abraham and Aaron and twice by Mary.
19:44 [Abraham said] “O my father, do not worship the devil. The devil has rebelled against the Most Gracious.
19:45 “O my father, I fear lest you incur retribution from the Most Gracious, then become an ally of the devil.”
19:26 “Eat and drink, and be happy. When you see anyone, say, ‘I (Mary) have made a vow of silence to the Most Gracious; I am not talking today to anyone.’ “
In the Quran, the expression Raheem is used by the four biblical prophets, Moses, Jacob, Joesph, and Job, who each address God as “the most Merciful of the merciful ones.”
7:151 (Moses) said, “My Lord, forgive me and my brother, and admit us into Your mercy. Of all the merciful ones, You are the Most Merciful.”
12:64 (Jacob) said, “Shall I trust you with him, as I trusted you with his brother before that? GOD is the best Protector, and, of all the merciful ones, He is the Most Merciful.”
Also, we see Abraham use the name ar-Raheem ( ٱلرَّحِيم) in his prayer to God after building the Kaaba.
2:128 [Abraham said] “Our Lord, make us submitters to You, and from our descendants let there be a community of submitters to You. Teach us the rites of our religion, and redeem us. You are the Redeemer, Most Merciful.
In 2020, Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad published the oldest written inscription of this expression found to date in an article entitled “The pre-Islamic basmala: Reflections on its first epigraphic attestation and its original significance.” This article focuses on an inscription found in Southern Arabia and is called “The Jebel Ḏabūb inscription (Al-Hajj and Faqʿas, “Naqš Jebel Ḏabūb”)”
According to Dr. Al-Jallad, the inscription reads:
Line 1: bsmlh | rḥmn | rḥmn | rb | s 1 mwt
Line 2: r(z)(q)n | mfḍlk | wʾṯrn | mḫh | s 2 kmt ʾymn
Interpretation 1:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب السموات
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Lord of the heavens”
“The Provider, (the One who) favors you, (O human) and the One who increases His blessings upon you (by) granting you faith.”
Interpretation 2:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب السموات
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Lord of the heavens”
أسألك) الرزق من فضلك وأن تمنح عقله (قبله) قوة (حلاوة) الايمان)
“(I ask of You) provision from Your bounty and that You grant his intellect before him strength (sweetness) of the faith.
It is worth pointing out how the first line of the expression after the Bismillah it uses the phrase “rabbi al-samwati,” which translates to “Lord of the heavens” ( رب السموات). This is very similar to the expression from the second verse of Sura 1 Al-Fãtehah, which states, “ rabbi l-ʿālamīna” ( رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ).
Bismillah in Bible
In Exodus 34:5-6 it states the following:
5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed in the name, of Yahweh. 6 And Yahweh passed in front of Moses, and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yeahweh, the merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
Additionally, Dr. Samuel Zinnner points out that the Hebrew for “and proclaimed” “way·yiq·rā” ( וַיִּקְרָ֥א) is an echo of the first revelation of the Quran:
96:1 Read (iq’ra), in the name of your Lord, who created.
(١) ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
Hebrew expression from above for “and proclaimed ( way·yiq·rā / וַיִּקְרָ֥א) in the name ( ḇə·šêm / בְשֵׁ֖ם) God, Merciful ( ra·ḥūm / רַח֖וּם) and Gracious ( wə·ḥan·nūn / וְחַנּ֑וּן) consists of 19 letters, just like it occurs in Arabic. This is interesting because this particular spelling, which is consistent in the manuscripts of the Quran, could also be written with 22 letters, yet it is deliberately written with exactly 19 letters.