[Murat Yazici]

Allah: The most exalted name of Allahu ta'ālā; all of His names are gathered in it. He is One and unique in His dhāt [self], His attributes, and His actions. He is unique; so He is not like anything. He is Qadīm [eternal, His existence does not have a beginning] and Bāqī [everlasting, His existence is without end]. He has not given birth (to a child) and was not born (from a mother or any other being). He does not have a mate, a son, or a daughter. He is not at a makān [place, location].

ar-Rahmān : Wishes goodness and rahmah [mercy] for His creation.

ar-Rahīm : Has great mercy; Rewards those who acknowledge and believe Him and use the benefactions He gave them in good ways with greater and endless benefactions.

al-Mālik : The owner of everything, the absolute sovereign over all creation.

al-Quddūs : Exalted beyond and free from all imperfections and defects, completely flawless.

as-Salām : The One without any flaws, The One who leads His abds from dangers to salāmah [safety], The One who gives salām [greetings] to His abds in paradise.[Abd means created and living being who worships, obeys, and serves. It is usually used for "human being."]

al-Mu'min : The One who attests to the truth of His promise to His mu'min abds [believers], The One who protects them from punishment; The One who declares His own unity.

al-Muhaymin :The Guardian, The Protector, The One who is trustworthy.

al-Azīz : The victor that cannot be defeated.

al-Jabbār : The One who corrects and removes deficiencies, The One who is able to enforce what He wishes.

al-Mutakabbir: The One who manifests His greatness in everything and every action.

al-Khāliq: The One who foreordains and creates the states of everything, The One who creates everything from nothing.

al-Bārī: The One who creates matter and parts of everything compatible with each other and in a harmonious state.

al-Musawwir: The fashioner of forms; The One who gives everything its shape and properties.

al-Ghaffār: The One who has great mercy; forgives those who ask for forgiveness of their sins.

al-Qahhār: He is victorious and dominant over everything such that He can do whatever He wills.

al-Wahhāb: He gives various benefactions continuously and freely.

al-Razzāk: The One who bestows upon the created beings food and sustenance.

al-Fattāh: The One who eases and removes all kinds of difficulties; The One who remedies poverty with wealth, ignorance with knowledge, benevolence, and by giving rizq [sustenance].

al-Alīm: All-knowing; He knows everything best.

al-Qābid: The restrainer, the limiter; He gives pain and distress to anyone He wills.

al-Bāsit: The One who opens and expands; He gives joy, happiness, and abundance to anyone He wills.

al-Khāfid: The abaser; The One who demotes His enemies in wealth, deeds and faith.

ar-Rāfi': The One who exalts and raises; The One who promotes His loved ones with respect to value, wealth, deeds, and faith.

al- Mu'izz: The One who gives greatness and honor.

al- Mudhill: The One who demotes to worthlessness and humiliates.

as-Samī': All-hearing; He hears every being.


(to be continued)

This post has been edited by Murat Yazici: 08 September 2010 - 08:19 AM

[Murat Yazici]

al-Basīr: All-seeing; He sees every being, He knows the existent and the non-existent.

al-Hakam: The One who judges and arbitrates; He carries out justice.

al-Adl: Very just; He carries out His actions as required by His will [i.e. things are created in accordance with what He has willed and preordained].

al-Latīf: The One who knows and creates all the subtleties of the most subtle matters and events. He conveys the benefits of these matters and events to His abds.

al-Habīr: The One who knows the inside, the secret aspects of everything.

al-Halīm: He has great hilm [forbearance]; although He has the power to punish the guilty, He treats them gently and delays or annuls their punishment.

al-Azīm: He has great majesty and greatness, He is the greatest; a limit to His greatness is impossible.

al-Ghafūr: He has great mercy; He hides and covers the sins and faults of His abds.

Ghaffār: The One who hides and covers sins and faults.

Ghafīr: The One who covers bad and shameful acts.

Ghafūr: The One who hides the sins, faults, and ugly acts of His abds from the world of malakūt [the world not visible to the eye, the world of spirits and meanings] as well.

ash-Shakūr: He reacts to the good deeds carried out for His pleasure with a greater response. [He gives great rewards in response to small deeds.]

al-Aliyy: Very exalted, high; He is without makān [place, location]; everything is below Him, under His order and dominion.

al-Kabīr: Very great; quantity [and other properties of matter such as length, width, height, volume, mass etc.] cannot be considered about Him.

al-Hafīz: The One who preserves all done deeds and actions with all their details; The One who preserves everything against annihilation until a certain time and protects everything from calamities.

al-Muqīt: Nothing can render Him weak, He manifests His power in everything; He is the sender of rizq [sustenance, nourishment] and food to every creature.

al-Hasīb: The One who knows what everybody does in life and the accounts of everything in detail.

al-Jalīl: Has jalālah [majesty] and greatness; He is great in His dhāt [self] and attributes.

al-Karīm: Has great karam [beneficence], generosity and kindness; His will covers everything and is absolute.

ar-Raqīb: Watcher and overseer of all creation; everything is under His control.

al-Mujīb: Responsive to those who beg Him.

al-Wāsi': Vast and permissive; His power, will, knowledge, hearing, seeing, and speech encompass everything.

al-Hakīm: His orders and all His actions are perfectly ordered, faultless, and have wisdom. There are countless benefits and protective aspects in His acts.

al-Wadūd: He loves His pious abds, He bestows upon them His rahmah [mercy] and approval; He sends goodness to those who deserve it and to those who do not deserve it. He is The One most deserving to be loved and whose friendship is the most valuable.

al-Majīd: His glory is great and exalted.

al-Bā'ith: Resurrects and raises the deceased from their graves.

ash-Shahīd: He is always hādhir [present] and nādhir [seeing] everywhere and with every being with His power, knowledge, hearing, and seeing [He exists without place and without time].

al-Haqq: His existence never changes.

al-Wakīl: He leads the things [tasks, requests] referred and entrusted to Him to the best results.

al-Qawiyy: Very strong; The One with complete power.

al-Matīn: Very secure; solid in His strength and power.

al-Waliyy: Loves His good abds; The Helping Friend to them.

al-Hamīd: The One who is offered hamd and sanā [thanks and praise]; The One who is praised by the tongue of all of creation; The One who praises His friends and praised by His friends.

al-Muhsī: The One who knows the count of everything; His knowledge, will, and power save and record everything.

al-Mubdī: The Originator, The Creator of everything from nothing, without an initial matter or a precedent.

(to be continued)

[Murat Yazici]

al-Mu'īd: The One who creates the created beings again after annihilating them.

al-Muhyī: The One who resurrects, gives life; The One who resurrects beings with respect to body, motion, knowledge, īmān [faith], and hidāyah [guidance, being on the right path].

al-Mumīt: The One who creates the death of a living being; The One who gives death to beings with respect to body, motion, knowledge, īmān [faith], and hidāyah [guidance, being on the right path].

al-Hayy: Alive; all-knowing and omnipotent.

al-Qayyūm: The One who holds the skies, the earth, and everything [He is self-existing, He manages and preserves all of His creation, He keeps all creation in existence.]

al-Wājid: Finds anything He wishes whenever He wishes.

al-Mājid: Powerful and has great glory; has great beneficence and generosity.

al-Wāhid: Single [unique]; The One without any partners, equals, or similars with respect to His dhāt [self], His attributes, and His acts.

as-Samad: The high authority to whom everybody appeals for the satisfaction of needs and for the removal of suffering; The One who is unimaginable, the One except whom nothing is wanted or intended in desires.

al-Qādir: He has the power to do whatever He wishes in the manner He wishes.

al-Muktadir: Omnipotent; Disposes those with strength and power as He wills.

al-Muqaddim: Expedites and brings forward what He wishes.

al-Muakhkhir: Delays and puts away anything He wishes.

al-Awwal: His existence does not have a beginning.

al-Ākhir: His existence does not have an end.

al-Zāhir: His existence is comprehended and perceived through clear signs and it is self-evident.

al-Bātin: His existence is not understood by means of the five senses, it is hidden.

al-Wālī: Dominates over and manages all existence.

al-Muta'ālī: The most exalted with respect to greatness, glory, and dominion.

al-Barr: Does plenty of favors, holds His promises.

at-Tawwāb: Leads His abds to tawbah [repentance, asking Allahu ta'ālā for forgiveness] and accepts their tawbahs. Turns His abds from sin to obedience.

al-Muntaqim: Punishes the guilty.

al-Afuww: Generously pardons sins; wishes to facilitate affairs [good deeds and prayers and other things for which His abds are responsible for].

ar-Ra'ūf: Has great rahmah [mercy], very merciful.

Mālik al-Mulk: Endless owner of mulk [dominion]; the ruler of everything, the ruler who does not need anybody else.

Dhu al-Jalāl wa al-Ikrām: The owner of greatness and karam [beneficence].

a-Muqsit: Carries out His acts at the correct time/place and with harmony; rules with justice; His decrees materialize in accordance with His will.

al-Jāmi': He brings together anything whenever and wherever he wishes; The One who gathers the dispersed and the scattered.

al-Ghaniyy: Independent of everything, rich, and has no need for anything.

al-Mughnī: Enriches whoever He wishes.

al-Māni': Does not permit the occurrence of something He does not wish; preventer of evil things.

ad-Dārr: The Creator of things that cause suffering and harm.

an-Nāfi': The Creator of things that are good and beneficial, benefactor.

an-Nūr: Gives light to the ālams [worlds]; He fills the faces, minds, and hearts He wishes with Nūr [heavenly light].

al-Hādī: Shows the way to hidāyah [salvation], renders the abds He wishes successful in good paths, gives them what they want.

al-Badī': The One who is incomparable, who has no partners, and who creates amazing ālams [worlds].

(final part to follow)

[Murat Yazici]

al-Bāqī: The Everlasting [His existence has no end].

al-Wārith: The Everlasting; The One who continues to exist after the temporary owners of property and wealth cease to exist, The One who is the real owner of every property and dominion.

ar-Rashīd: Finishes all things perfectly correctly, with an order and wisdom; inspires and leads to the true path, shows the way to salvation.

as-Sabūr: Very patient; wishes to delay punishment.

This post has been edited by Murat Yazici: 08 September 2010 - 08:51 AM

[Murat Yazici]

A local shaykh compiled/prepared these explanations. The original text is in Turkish, it was translated to English by somebody I know. If you see any problems in the translation, spelling of various words, etc. the translator will be informed about your comments and suggestions.

I feel this is a good and useful list of explanations, as it is not too brief. There is sufficient explanation here (single word-to-single word translations do not always make the meanings of these names clear). Wassalam.

This post has been edited by Murat Yazici: 08 September 2010 - 08:42 AM

[faqir]

as-salamu `alaikum

JazakumAllahu khayran sidi Murat

A useful section relating to Allah's names and His attributes from al-Bayhaqi's Asma' wal-Sifat, vol. 1 of `Abd Allah al-Hashidi's 1993 Saudi edition:

 Bayhaqi-AsmaWalSifat.pdf (60.78K)
Number of downloads: 12