59
The Gathering
al-Ḥashr
Al-Ḥashr, a Madinan sūrah, takes its name from the mention of the first gathering in v. 2. It is also known as al-Naḍīr or Banū Naḍīr (Āl, IJ, Ṭ), since most of its verses are said to have been revealed in relation to the Jewish tribe of Banū Naḍīr after they were banished from Madinah for having broken their treaty with the nascent Muslim polity. This is the second in a group of sūrahs known as “The Glorifiers” (al-Musabbiḥāt), because they begin with a reference to the glorification of God; the other sūrahs in the group are 57, 61, 62, and 64. According to a ḥadīth, “Within [the Glorifiers] there is a verse that is better than a thousand verses” (IK, Q, Sh). Some scholars are of the opinion that this ḥadīth refers to v. 3 of Sūrah 57, al-Ḥadīd (IK, Sh), while others propose that it refers to the last verse of this sūrah (Sh).
After arriving in Madinah, the Prophet established peaceful relations with the Jewish tribes of the surrounding oasis, of which the largest were the Banū Qaynuqāʿ, the Banū Naḍīr, and the Banū Qurayẓah. The tribes of the oasis had made a covenant, often known as the Constitution of Madinah, in which they pledged to support one another, should any of them be attacked by outside forces, and to make no alliances against one another. The Muslims believed that the Banū Qaynuqāʿ had broken these terms after the Battle of Badr; hence the Banū Qaynuqāʿ were subsequently banished from the oasis.
After the Battle of Uḥud, the Banū Naḍīr were accused of having entered into an alliance against the Muslims and having plotted to kill the Prophet. When the Prophet heard of their treachery, some say from the Archangel Gabriel, others say through a woman of the Banū Naḍīr, the Prophet presented them with the choice of leaving the oasis with all their possessions, but retaining the right to the proceeds from their crops, or facing war. They requested a respite of ten days. After conferring with their allies, among whom were some of the hypocrites within Madinah, they chose the latter course, thinking that reinforcements would be forthcoming. The Muslim armies besieged their fortresses for twenty-one days, during which time the fighting was limited to brief exchanges of arrows. The Banū Naḍīr’s hopes dwindled when none of the promised reinforcements arrived. When the Muslim armies cut some of the Banū Naḍīr’s prized date palms that lay just outside their fortresses, it was more than they could bear. They sent word they would agree to the initial terms of exile. The Prophet, however, was no longer willing to offer the same terms. Under the new terms, they would be banished, allowed to keep their considerable wealth, except their armaments, but had to forfeit their land, crops and all. The Banū Naḍīr had no choice but to accept.
Dealing with the complexities of administering justice when a treacherous group makes up a part of a small community, this sūrah addresses all of the groups that were to be found in the nascent Muslim community: the Emigrants from Makkah; the Helpers who had embraced Islam before the emigration; the Helpers who had embraced Islam after the emigration; the hypocrites, who embraced Islam outwardly but betrayed it inwardly, many of whom conspired against the Prophet; and the Jewish tribes, who initially welcomed the Prophet, but many of whom later developed animosity toward him and his followers. After the first section (vv. 1–5) addresses the situation of the Banū Naḍīr, vv. 6–10 discuss the proper distribution of spoils from their banishment among the different groups of believers and the relationships among these groups. Their harmonious relations are then contrasted to the disharmony between the hypocrites and the Banū Naḍīr (vv. 11–19), whose counsel toward one another is likened to that of Satan (v. 16). After declaring the incommensurability of those destined for the Fire and those destined for the Garden (v. 20), the sūrah ends with a famous passage that discusses the nature of the revelation (v. 21) and provides the most comprehensive list of Divine Names in the Quran (vv. 22–24).
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
¡ Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies God, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. * He it is Who expelled those who disbelieve among the People of the Book from their homes at the first gathering. You did not think they would go forth, and they thought their fortresses would protect them from God. Then God came upon them whence they reckoned not, and cast terror into their hearts, as they razed their houses with their own hands and with the hands of the believers. So take heed, O you who are possessed of sight. + Had God not ordained banishment for them, He would have punished them in this world. And in the Hereafter theirs shall be the punishment of the Fire. J That is because they defied God and His Messenger; and whosoever defies God and His Messenger, truly God is severe in retribution. Z Whatsoever of the palm trees you cut down or left standing upon their roots, it was by God’s Leave, and that He might disgrace the iniquitous. j As for what God has given in spoils from them to the Messenger, you spurred neither horse nor camel for it. But God grants His messengers authority over whomsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things. z That which God has given in spoils to His Messenger from the people of the towns is for God and His Messenger, and for kinfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the traveler, that it not come to circulate among your wealthy. Whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids to you, forgo, and reverence God. Truly God is severe in retribution. { For the poor emigrants who were expelled from their homes and their property seeking bounty and contentment from God and who help God and His Messenger—it is, they who are the truthful. | And those who were settled in the land and in belief before them love those who emigrated to them and find in their breasts no need for that which they were given. They prefer others over themselves, even if they be impoverished. And whosoever is shielded from the avarice of his soul, it is they who shall prosper. Ċ And those who came after them say, “Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and place no rancor in our hearts toward those who believe. Our Lord! Truly Thou art Kind, Merciful.” Ě Hast thou not seen those who act with hypocrisy, saying to their brothers who disbelieve among the People of the Book, “If you are expelled, surely we shall go forth with you. And we shall never obey anyone against you. And if you are fought, we shall help you.” God bears witness that they are surely liars. Ī Were they expelled, they would not go forth with them, and were they fought, they would not help them. And were they to help them, they would surely turn their backs. Then they would not be helped. ĺ Truly you incite more intense dread in their breasts than God. That is because they are a people who do not comprehend. Ŋ They will not fight you all together, save in fortified towns or from behind walls. Their might is fierce among themselves. You suppose that they are together; yet their hearts are divided. That is because they are a people who do not understand, Ś like those who shortly before them tasted the evil consequences of their affair—and theirs shall be a painful punishment— Ū like Satan when he says unto man, “Disbelieve!” Then when he disbelieves, he says, “Surely I am quit of you. Truly I fear God, Lord of the worlds.” ź The end of both is that they will be in the Fire, abiding therein. That is the recompense of the wrongdoers. Ɗ O you who believe! Reverence God and let every soul consider what it has sent forth for the morrow; and reverence God. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do. ƚ And be not like those who forget God, such that He makes them forget their souls. It is they who are the iniquitous. Ȋ Not equal are the inhabitants of the Fire and the inhabitants of the Garden. The inhabitants of the Garden—they are the triumphant. ! Had We made this Quran descend upon a mountain, thou wouldst have seen it humbled, rent asunder by the fear of God. These are the parables We set forth for mankind, that haply they may reflect. " He is God, other than Whom there is no god, Knower of the Unseen and the seen. And He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. # He is God, other than Whom there is no god, the Sovereign, the Holy, Peace, the Faithful, the Protector, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Proud. Glory be to Him above the partners they ascribe. $ He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; unto Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
Commentary
¡ Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies God, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
1 Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies God is repeated in 61:1; 62:1; 64:1; see 64:1c. To the many permutations of this phrase in the Quran, 17:44 adds, And there is no thing, save that it hymns His praise, though you do not understand their praise.
***
* He it is Who expelled those who disbelieve among the People of the Book from their homes at the first gathering. You did not think they would go forth, and they thought their fortresses would protect them from God. Then God came upon them whence they reckoned not, and cast terror into their hearts, as they razed their houses with their own hands and with the hands of the believers. So take heed, O you who are possessed of sight.
2 Here those who disbelieve among the People of the Book is a specific reference to the Banū Naḍīr; see the introduction to this sūrah. At the first gathering refers to the gathering of the Muslim forces. Alternately, it can be read “to the first gathering” as a reference to the Banū Naḍīr’s having been banished to Syria (Ṭ), but then gathering in Khaybar. God cast terror into their hearts when the Prophet heard of their plans to assassinate him and had their leader, Kaʿb ibn Ashraf, executed instead (Q). God came upon them whence they reckoned not refers to the fact that those who executed Kaʿb had previously been trusted allies of the Banū Naḍīr (Q). After being forced to leave their homes, the Banū Naḍīr are reported to have taken them apart with their own hands, as they sought to take with them anything of value (Ṭ). That they razed their houses with their own hands could also be taken as an allusion to the fact that their banishment and loss of property resulted from their breaking their treaty and then rejecting more congenial terms before being forced to forfeit their homes and their land altogether. The injunction to take heed, or “reflect,” O you who are possessed of sight, is understood by the philosopher and jurisprudent Ibn Rushd as a “proof of the obligatory nature of the syllogism, or of both the syllogism and legal reasoning (qiyās)” (Faṣl al-maqāl, 28).
***
+ Had God not ordained banishment for them, He would have punished them in this world. And in the Hereafter theirs shall be the punishment of the Fire.
J That is because they defied God and His Messenger; and whosoever defies God and His Messenger, truly God is severe in retribution.
3–4 He would have punished them in this world is interpreted to mean that, had the Banū Naḍīr not been banished, God would have punished them with execution and capture (Ṭ), just as the Banū Qurayẓah were punished for their treachery after the Battle of the Trench in 4/627.
***
Z Whatsoever of the palm trees you cut down or left standing upon their roots, it was by God’s Leave, and that He might disgrace the iniquitous.
5 After the siege of the Banū Naḍīr had lasted for several days, the Prophet ordered the cutting down and burning of some palm trees that lay within sight of their fortresses. The Banū Naḍīr were alarmed and said, “You claim, O Muhammad, that you seek goodness. Is there any goodness in damaging productive trees and cutting them down?” They also said to him, “Is corruption upon the earth part of what you claim has been revealed to you?” The Prophet was distressed upon hearing this, and the Muslims began to fear that cutting down the trees may have been an act of corruption. Yet they disagreed among themselves. Some said not to cut the palm trees down, for they were part of what God had given as spoils, but others wanted to cut them down. And so God revealed v. 5, confirming the opinion of those who warned against cutting the palm trees down, while at the same time affirming the lawfulness of cutting them down under these particular circumstances. God informed them that the cutting down of trees or leaving them standing is only by His Leave (IK, W). Gratuitous destruction of enemy property, especially trees and crops, is prohibited by Islamic Law (Bg, IK, R, Ṭ, Z).
***
j As for what God has given in spoils from them to the Messenger, you spurred neither horse nor camel for it. But God grants His messengers authority over whomsoever He will, and God is Powerful over all things.
6 You spurred neither horse nor camel for it indicates that the property taken from the Banū Naḍīr was not to be treated as booty acquired in battle, which would have been distributed among the victorious combatants with one-fifth going to the Prophet for the needs of the Muslim community, as stipulated in 8:41: Whatsoever you take as spoils, a fifth is for God and His Messenger, and for kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the traveler. But in this instance, as the booty had in effect been surrendered without a fight, the Prophet was to be granted full authority over its distribution. He then gave it to the Emigrants, many of whom had been in straitened circumstances since their emigration from Makkah, and to two of the Helpers, the Muslims who had made Madinah their home before the migration of the Prophet. The remainder he used for the needs of his family and to purchase armaments for the Muslims (IK).
***
z That which God has given in spoils to His Messenger from the people of the towns is for God and His Messenger, and for kinfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the traveler, that it not come to circulate among your wealthy. Whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids to you, forgo, and reverence God. Truly God is severe in retribution.
7 The recipients of the booty listed here appear in one form or another in several other verses (e.g., 2:177, 214; 4:36; 8:41); see also the essay “Quranic Ethics, Human Rights, and Society.” That it not come to circulate among your wealthy indicates that the Prophet sought to distribute the spoils of the siege in a manner that would establish greater economic parity among the Muslims. Although this verse provides specific rulings pertaining to the distribution of booty after the defeat of the Banū Naḍīr, Muslims have often taken the injunction Whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids to you, forgo, and reverence God as a more general command applying to all that was enjoined by the Prophet, in accord with many verses that command Muslims to obey God and obey the Messenger (3:32; 4:59; 5:92; 24:54; 47:33; 64:12; see also 3:132; 4:80; 7:156–57; 8:1, 20, 46; 33:33; 49:14; 58:13). Hence this verse is often linked to a famous saying of the Prophet: “When I order you to do something, then do as much of it as you can. If I forbid something for you, then shun it” (IK, Q).
***
{ For the poor emigrants who were expelled from their homes and their property seeking bounty and contentment from God and who help God and His Messenger—it is, they who are the truthful.
8 Rather than being used to further enrich the wealthy, the spoils of war are to be distributed among the poor (Q). Bounty indicates what the emigrants sought in this world, and contentment indicates what they sought in the Hereafter (Q). They help God and His Messenger by striving and fighting in the way of God (Q). Truthful translates ṣādiqūn, which can also mean “sincere,” and here indicates those who act in accord with their beliefs, in stark contrast to the hypocrites, who are criticized in vv. 11–12.
***
| And those who were settled in the land and in belief before them love those who emigrated to them and find in their breasts no need for that which they were given. They prefer others over themselves, even if they be impoverished. And whosoever is shielded from the avarice of his soul, it is they who shall prosper.
9 In the land refers to Madinah, and those who were settled . . . in belief before them refers to the Muslims of Madinah who had embraced Islam before the arrival of the Prophet and the Emigrants from Makkah. This verse was reportedly revealed in relation to an incident in which the Prophet entrusted one of the People of the Veranda (the poor who lived outside the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah; see 2:273c) to a man from the Helpers. The Helper took the man to his family and asked his wife, “Do we have anything [to feed him]?” She said, “We do not have anything except the children’s food.” He said, “Put them to sleep, and then bring me the food. And when you put the food down, turn the lamp off.” He then offered what he had to his guest. The following morning he took him back to the Messenger of God. The Prophet said, “Truly the dwellers of the heavens are amazed at what you two have done.” This verse was then revealed (IK, W). They prefer others over themselves is related to those verses that praise giving wealth despite loving it (2:177; 76:8). Find in their breasts no need has broader implications, as it indicates removing this world from one’s heart, so that the heart is no longer attached to what passes it by (Aj). In this vein, a ḥadīth states, “Abstain from the world, and God will love you; abstain from what pertains to other people, and the people will love you.” Whosoever is shielded from the avarice of his soul (cf. 64:16) thus describes those who feel no need for what is destined for others and are thereby protected, as in another ḥadīth, “Your worst enemy is the soul between your two sides.” In this same vein, the Prophet warned his followers, “Be on your guard against committing oppression, for oppression is a darkness on the Day of Resurrection. Be on your guard against avarice, for avarice is what destroyed those who were before you. It made them shed blood and make lawful that which was unlawful for them” (IK).
***
Ċ And those who came after them say, “Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and place no rancor in our hearts toward those who believe. Our Lord! Truly Thou art Kind, Merciful.”
10 Those who came after them refers to those who embraced Islam after the Prophet and his followers had emigrated from Makkah, in contrast to those Helpers who had embraced Islam before the emigration. It is thus seen as designating a third category of believers, alluded to in 9:100: [As for] the foremost, the first among the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who followed them with virtue, God is content with them, and they are content with Him (IK). Their prayer indicates their desire that there be no discord between them and those who preceded them in religion. But it can also be understood to impart an attitude that all Muslims should have toward one another (R). Those who came after them can also be read as a reference to everyone who enters Islam until the Day of Resurrection, while our brothers who preceded us in faith can be read as a reference to the People of the Book, who preceded the Muslims in belief (Q). In this sense, the verse indicates that the preferred course with the Banū Naḍīr would have been reconciliation, but that once they had become resolute in their defiance, there was no alternative but banishment.
***
Ě Hast thou not seen those who act with hypocrisy, saying to their brothers who disbelieve among the People of the Book, “If you are expelled, surely we shall go forth with you. And we shall never obey anyone against you. And if you are fought, we shall help you.” God bears witness that they are surely liars.
Ī Were they expelled, they would not go forth with them, and were they fought, they would not help them. And were they to help them, they would surely turn their backs. Then they would not be helped.
11–12 In contrast to the different categories of believers mentioned above, these verses discuss the hypocrites of Madinah, chiefly ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, who reportedly promised the Banū Naḍīr that he and his followers would support them in their fight against the Muslims. But when they could not muster sufficient forces, they reneged on their promise and watched as one of their allies was forced to leave the oasis. The hypocrites are here considered so cowardly and duplicitous that even if they did muster the promised forces, they would soon be driven away by the Muslim army; hence the Banū Naḍīr would still not be helped (Ṭ).
***
ĺ Truly you incite more intense dread in their breasts than God. That is because they are a people who do not comprehend.
13 The Banū Naḍīr are condemned here for breaking their pact and thus violating the principles of their religion, for, had they feared God, they would not have done so and would not now need to seek refuge from the Muslim army. That they fear human beings more than God indicates that they are focused upon this world rather than the Hereafter.
***
Ŋ They will not fight you all together, save in fortified towns or from behind walls. Their might is fierce among themselves. You suppose that they are together; yet their hearts are divided. That is because they are a people who do not understand,
14 Their might is fierce among themselves has two meanings: first, the Banū Naḍīr believe that they are strong and courageous, though in reality they are not; second, “their enmity is great among themselves,” indicating that they appear united but are in fact at odds with one another (IK). You suppose that they are together; yet their hearts are divided refers to either the discord between the Jews of Madinah and the hypocrites (IK) or inner discord among the Jews of Madinah themselves. Although one might see them combining forces and think that these forces are harmonious, in reality they are severely divided (IK). The discord that people experience among themselves is a form of punishment sent by God, as in 6:65: He is the One Who has power to send a punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to confound you as discordant factions and make you taste the might of one another. In contrast, it is a sign of God’s Mercy when the hearts of those who had been enemies are joined; see 3:103.
***
Ś like those who shortly before them tasted the evil consequences of their affair—and theirs shall be a painful punishment—
15 Those who shortly before them refers to the Banū Qaynuqāʿ, another Jewish tribe which had been driven out of Madinah for similar treachery two years before the Banū Naḍīr (IK). They tasted the evil consequences of their affair through the punishment imposed upon them in this life, and theirs shall be a painful punishment in the Hereafter (Bḍ).
***
Ū like Satan when he says unto man, “Disbelieve!” Then when he disbelieves, he says, “Surely I am quit of you. Truly I fear God, Lord of the worlds.”
ź The end of both is that they will be in the Fire, abiding therein. That is the recompense of the wrongdoers.
16–17 These verses draw an analogy between the way the hypocrites betrayed the Jews and the way Satan betrays human beings (Bḍ), as in 8:48: Satan made their deeds seem fair unto them, and said, “None among mankind shall overcome you today, and I am indeed your defender.” But when the two hosts saw each other, he turned on his heels and said, “I am quit of you!” The manner in which Satan declares himself to be quit or innocent of what he entices the disbelievers to ascribe to him is most evident in 14:22: And Satan will say, when the matter has been decreed, “Verily God made you the Promise of truth; and I made you a promise, but I failed you. And I had no authority over you, save that I called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves. I cannot respond to your cries for help; nor can you respond to my cries for help. Truly I disbelieved in your ascribing me as partner aforetime.”
***
Ɗ O you who believe! Reverence God and let every soul consider what it has sent forth for the morrow; and reverence God. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do.
18 Let every soul consider what it has sent forth for the morrow indicates that everyone should reflect upon their deeds and evaluate how they may fare on the Day of Judgment. It is reported that upon seeing the impoverished state of some Muslims, the Prophet called the people together and then recited 4:1, O mankind! Reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from the two has spread abroad a multitude of men and women, followed by this verse, whereupon many Muslims brought food and clothes for the impoverished members of the community (IK).
***
ƚ And be not like those who forget God, such that He makes them forget their souls. It is they who are the iniquitous.
19 That God makes those who forget God forget their souls, or themselves, indicates that they cease to listen to what benefits the soul and to do what would purify it (Bḍ), and that they are therefore unable to prepare for the Day of Judgment. Some say this means that they forget the right of God and thus the right of their souls, or the share that is their due (Bḍ, Ṭ). From another perspective, those who forget God, such that He makes them forget their souls is an inversion of the famous saying, sometimes regarded as a ḥadīth, “He who knows himself knows his Lord.” Since forgetfulness of God is the cause of forgetfulness of self, remembering the self necessitates that God first remember the self, and God’s remembering the self will itself necessitate the self’s remembering itself, as in 2:152: Remember Me, and I shall remember you. From this perspective, whoever does not have self-knowledge does not know God and will be unfortunate in the next life. Thus 8:45 enjoins, Be firm and remember God much, that haply you may prosper.
***
Ȋ Not equal are the inhabitants of the Fire and the inhabitants of the Garden. The inhabitants of the Garden—they are the triumphant.
20 This is one of several verses that indicate the disparity between believers and disbelievers (see 38:28). Elsewhere the chasm between the believers and disbelievers is likened to that between the seeing and the blind (see 35:19; 40:58) and to those who know and those who do not know (39:9).
***
! Had We made this Quran descend upon a mountain, thou wouldst have seen it humbled, rent asunder by the fear of God. These are the parables We set forth for mankind, that haply they may reflect.
21 Humbled can also be read as “brought low.” Most understand this verse as a reprimand to human beings whose hearts remain hard and unmoved in the face of the Quran (Aj, IK, Z), as if to say, “How is it that your hearts are so hard that they do not soften to the Quran, as even the mountains would?” (IK). This verse is thus an injunction for human beings to listen to and receive the Quran with fear and humility (IK, Ṭ). From another perspective, this verse exalts the potentiality of the human heart, which alone among all created things can contain the Quran, as alluded to in 33:72: Truly We offered the Trust unto the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were wary of it—yet man bore it (Aj). Seen in this light, the Divine Names presented in the verses that follow are an allusion to the Divine Qualities to which it is said the heart of God’s believing servants can attain. In this vein, a well-known ḥadīth qudsī states, “My heavens and My earth embrace Me not, but the heart of My believing servant does embrace Me” (al-Ghazzālī, Iḥyāʾ, III.1.5).
***
" He is God, other than Whom there is no god, Knower of the Unseen and the seen. And He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.
22–24 This passage is considered to be among the “Jewels of the Quran” and is often recited in both obligatory and supererogatory prayers. It provides the most extensive list of Divine Names in the Quran, seventeen in all—or eighteen, if one includes the pronoun He (huwa) with which the passage begins and which many consider a Divine Name pertaining to the Divine Essence. Many sayings extol the recitation of this sūrah, especially these last three verses (sometimes including v. 21 as well). According to one saying attributed to the early Ḥadīth specialist Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ (d. 187/803), “One who reads the end of the sūrah of ‘The Gathering’ [vv. 21–24] until the morning and then dies on that very day is stamped with the stamp of those who witness [God]. One who reads it in the evening and then dies that very night is stamped with the stamp of those who witness [God]” (Iḥyāʾ, K. Qirāʾāt al-Qurʾān).
22 For an explanation of the Islamic testimony of faith (shahādah), with which this passage begins, see 2:255c. The Name Allāh—“God”—is referred to as the all-comprehensive Name (al-ism al-jāmiʿ), because it is said to comprise all the particular qualities that each of the other Names conveys. It is also the most specific of the Names, since it cannot be used to describe any being other than God, whereas many other Divine Names, such as the Merciful or the Clement, can. Knower of the Unseen and the seen (cf. 6:73; 9:94, 105; 13:9; 23:92; 32:6; 39:46; 62:8; 64:18) indicates that God knows all that is hidden and all that is manifest on all levels of reality, in both this world and the Hereafter (Q, R). It can also mean that God knows all things before they become manifest in external existence, when they are “Unseen,” and after they come into external existence, when they can be seen (Aj). Regarding the Compassionate, the Merciful, see 1:3c.
***
# He is God, other than Whom there is no god, the Sovereign, the Holy, Peace, the Faithful, the Protector, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Proud. Glory be to Him above the partners they ascribe.
23 According to Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī in his Commentary on the Most Beautiful Names of God, there is a progression in the first five Names listed here from those that pertain more closely to the Divine Essence to those that pertain more closely to Divine Action. The Sovereign is the One Who in both His Essence and His Attributes has no need of any other being, while all other things are in need of Him. The Holy is the One Who transcends utterly any quality that one might attribute to Him, thus indicating that His Perfection is beyond human conception. Peace translates ṣalām, which indicates being flawless, beyond all imperfections, and untarnished by any evil or inner contradiction. According to a ḥadīth, some Companions used to pray “Peace upon God,” until the Prophet corrected them, indicating that God was Himself Peace. The Faithful translates al-Muʾmin, the same word that is rendered “believer” when used to describe human beings. When said of God, al-Muʾmin refers to the One Who provides all safety and security. The Protector is the One Who watches over His creation, tending to their actions and their provision at every moment. The Mighty indicates the One Who is eminent, of Whom others have need and to Whom access is difficult. The Compeller is the One Whose Will prevails over the will of all others, the One Whose grasp nothing escapes, yet Whom nothing else can grasp. The Proud is the One Who is majestic to the exclusion of all else, so that nothing is worthy of being considered in relation to Him.
***
$ He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; unto Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
24 The Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner can be correlated to three stages in the unfolding of creation: the Creator indicates the Quality of God through which He measures things out before they come into existence in this world; the Maker indicates the manner in which God then brings things into being; and the Fashioner indicates the manner in which God then gives things form with various characteristics (Q). Alternately, these three Divine Names can be seen as referring more specifically to the three stages through which creatures, in particular human beings, develop in the womb (Q).
Regarding unto Him belong the Most Beautiful Names (cf. 7:180; 17:110; 20:8), a famous ḥadīth states, “God has ninety-nine Names—one hundred minus one—and whosoever enumerates them will enter the Garden” (IK), though many scholars maintain that God has more than ninety-nine Names, many of which are not revealed to human beings. In this vein, the Prophet is reported to have called upon God saying, “I implore Thee by every Name that is Thine, by which Thou hast named Thyself, or which Thou hast revealed in Thy Book, or which Thou hast taught to any of Thy creation, or which Thou hast assigned to Thyself in Thy knowledge of things unseen.”