Urdu · اردو
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Urdu Scriptures · Script: Perso-Arabic (Nastaʿlīq)
For the reviewer
These are the proposed renderings of FHB's key terms. The heart of the review: wherever English says our Father, the rendering must feel like a beloved child addressing their own father — warm, reverent, natural to your language's Bible — and never the distant generic word for "God." Mark anything that reads wrong, stiff, or irreverent. Tip: your browser's translate feature can back-translate this page as a second witness. Approvals or corrections go to Kevin White.
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Reverent literary contemporary Urdu in the tradition of the beloved Kitāb-i-Muqaddas (the classic Urdu Bible) and the widely-read Urdu Geo Version — dignified, gently Persianized, but warm and intelligible to ordinary believers; the diction Urdu-speaking Christians already pray in.
Quotation marks
Double inverted commas (wāwēn) ”…“ read right-to-left; reported/direct speech is commonly introduced with the complementizer کہ (ki) and the vocative particle اے (ai) marks address.
Poetry lines
Hebrew poetic parallelism (Psalms, Proverbs, prophetic oracles) set as discrete right-aligned verse lines (miṣraʿ), one colon per line, matched couplets kept adjacent with the second line indented; no forced rhyme, the parallel sense carries the line.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | ہمارا آسمانی باپ | our heavenly Father | Filial divine name; باپ ('father') is the exact word the Kitāb-i-Muqaddas uses in the Lord's Prayer, not خُدا — آسمانی ('heavenly') keeps the reverent height without going generic. |
| 2 | our Father | ہمارا باپ | our Father (vocative: اے ہمارے باپ, 'O our Father') | Primary filial divine name, on the wording of the traditional Urdu Lord's Prayer (اے ہمارے باپ). NEVER revert to خُدا or خُداوند; باپ is warm and paternal, exactly the child-to-father register FHB requires. |
| 3 | the Father | باپ | the Father | Definite filial name; the bare باپ carries the definite divine sense in context (cf. بیٹا, 'the Son'), preserving the father–son correlation without an article Urdu does not use. |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | آسمانی باپ | heavenly Father | Filial; same باپ stem as the possessive forms so machine conformance holds; آسمانی marks reverent transcendence. |
| 5 | Abba, Father | ابّا اے باپ | Abba, O Father | Anchored to اردو ریوائزڈ (Rom 8:15 / Mk 14:36) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "ابّا، اے باپ". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 6 | God | خُدا | God | REVERSION TOKEN — the traditional generic word for God in Urdu Christian usage. Non-filial contrast term; use ONLY where the English keeps 'God' as God-as-God, never as a stand-in for باپ. |
| 7 | the LORD | خُداوند | the LORD / Sovereign-Lord | REVERSION TOKEN — the covenant-name rendering of the Urdu Bible (Yahweh). Non-filial. Note: 'Lord' as a title for Jesus is also خُداوند (e.g. خُداوند یسوع); disambiguate by context. Never a substitute for باپ. |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | رُوحُ القُدس | the Holy Spirit | Standard, revered Urdu Bible term (Arabic-derived); universally recognized. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | ہمارے باپ کا روح | the Spirit of our Father | Anchored to اردو ریوائزڈ (Mt 10:20) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "ہمارے باپ کی رُوح". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 10 | the Son of Man | اِبنِ آدم | the Son of Adam/Man | The fixed Urdu Bible Christological self-title; instantly recognized, do not literalize with بیٹا. |
| 11 | the Son | بیٹا | the Son | The warm, filial correlate of باپ, and the word the Urdu Bible uses in John 3:16 (اِکلوتا بیٹا); keeps the father–son bond in the same word-family. |
| 12 | the Son of God | خُدا کا بیٹا | the Son of God | Traditional Christological title. Filial alternative باپ کا بیٹا ('the Father's Son') is available and coheres with the FHB vision — native reviewer to confirm which to adopt. |
| 13 | one and only Son | اِکلوتا بیٹا | sole/only-begotten Son | The exact John 3:16 wording of the Urdu Bible (اپنا اِکلوتا بیٹا); اِکلوتا conveys 'one and only' with covenant tenderness. |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | ہمارے باپ کی بادشاہی | the kingdom of our Father | FHB renders 'kingdom of God' filially: بادشاہی is the standard Urdu Bible word for 'kingdom', re-anchored to باپ instead of خُدا. |
| 15 | Jesus | یسوع | Jesus | Standard Urdu Bible spelling. |
| 16 | Christ | مسیح | Christ / the Anointed | Standard; commonly یسوع مسیح when paired with the name. |
| 17 | Messiah | مسیح | Messiah / the Anointed | Urdu uses the same word مسیح for both 'Christ' and 'Messiah'; where the English distinguishes, context and capitalization-equivalents carry it — reviewer to confirm no separate transliteration (مسیّا) is wanted. |
| 18 | covenant | عہد | covenant / solemn pact | Standard Urdu Bible term; نیا عہد = 'new covenant'. |
| 19 | steadfast love | اٹل محبت | unshakeable/steadfast love | For Hebrew ḥesed (loyal covenant love). اٹل ('immovable') foregrounds covenant loyalty. Traditional Urdu renders ḥesed as شفقت ('lovingkindness'); وفادار محبت ('faithful love') is a close alternative — reviewer to confirm. |
| 20 | compassion | رحم | compassion / womb-tender mercy | For racham / splanchnizomai (gut-level tenderness). رحم shares the Semitic r-ḥ-m root ('womb') and is the Urdu Bible's word for being 'moved with compassion' (اُس نے رحم کھایا); distinct from اٹل محبت above. |
| 21 | righteousness | راستبازی | righteousness / uprightness | The established Urdu Bible abstract noun (راستباز = 'righteous one'); no substitution needed. |
| 22 | eternal life | ہمیشہ کی زندگی | everlasting life | The exact John 3:16 phrasing of the Urdu Bible; ابدی زندگی ('eternal life') is a more formal synonym if a loftier register is wanted. |
| 23 | born again | نئے سرے سے پیدا ہونا | to be born anew / from a fresh start | The Urdu Bible wording of John 3:3,7 (نئے سرے سے پیدا نہ ہو); natural and unmistakable to Urdu readers. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Urdu has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- تناسخ (reincarnation/transmigration) → نیا جنم (new birth)
- اوتار (Hindu avatar) → مجسم ہونا (incarnation)
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): باپ
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Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Urdu or English.