Quora Answer: What does “as-Salaamu’Alaykum” Mean?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What does “as-Salaamu’Alaykum” mean?  I hear a lot of my Muslim friends say it to each other?” 

It literally means, “May the Peace be upon you all”.  There is a subtle nuance here, in that the “peace” we wish is not generic, but a specific Peace that Allah (s.w.t.) Grants to the believers, a calmness of heart, and respite from the trials of the world.  “as-Salam”, in “as-Salaamu’Alaykum”, is also one of the Names of Allah (s.w.t.), the Peace and Tranquility.  The greeting is in the plural since we say “‘Alaykum”, not “‘Alayka” or “‘Alayki”, because we extend the greetings to the recording angels on the left and right, who record our good and bad deeds, and to all the servants of Allah (s.w.t.), who may be among the unseen.