Baraka (blessing), a term denoting a religious concept that holds a prominent place in both the Qurʾān and ḥadīth and is widely used in popular Muslim cultures. The trilateral root b-r-k is found in most Semitic languages with the same two core meanings. The simple form of the verb in both Arabic and Hebrew conveys the action of kneel-ing (Lane, entry on baraka; Gesenius, entry on barekh; cf. Psalms 95:6). This meaning is also found in cognate languages (Assyrian: birku, Ethiopic: ብርክ, Aramaic בִּרְכָּא; Syriac: ܒܪܟ; Ugaritic: ) and in Arabic the IV form of th…