The letter Waw, Connection, the conjunction, that which joins, and, together, with

What Waw encodes

Waw as a prefix is the Arabic conjunction, و (wa, and). It is the letter of joining, of "and", of the bond between two things. وجد (wujud. Existence, and also mystical ecstasy) begins with Waw. وصل (wasl. Union, connection, arriving) begins with Waw. The letter joins.

Ibn Arabi and the Science of Letters

Al-Wadud, the Loving, the Affectionate, is the divine name connected to Waw. Ibn Arabi wrote significantly about wujud (existence) as the Waw principle: that existence itself is a joining. The created meeting the Creator, the known meeting the Knower. A name carrying Waw has a quality of union-seeking, of finding where things join.

Waw as the first letter

A name beginning with Waw produces someone whose primary orientation is toward union and connection. Finding where things meet, bringing separate things together, experiencing the wujud of moments when separation dissolves.

Waw in the Quran

Waw opens the conjunction that runs throughout the Quran connecting verse to verse. It is in وجه (wajh. Face, the face turned toward Allah), and the divine name الودود (Al-Wadud).

Names opened or shaped by Waw

Each of the following names carries the Waw principle. Either as the opening letter that governs the outward self, or within the name where it shapes the interior life. Click any name to read its full reading.

Letters whose principles interact meaningfully with Waw:

Waw is one of the six letters that join only to the right. It accepts a connection from the letter before it but never passes one on, so it has no initial or medial shape, and the letter after it always starts fresh. This is why a word containing Waw looks broken into pieces.

Waw is a moon letter. When the definite article ال (al-) comes before it, the l is pronounced clearly and stays audible, as in القمر, al-qamar, the moon, which gives this group its name. Names beginning with Waw keep their al- intact when they carry one.