The Beautiful And Perfect Names Of Allah

Among the highest and most noble forms of knowledge is the recognition of the Lord, the Glorious, through His beauty. This is a station attained only by the most distinguished among creation. While all of creation may know Allah through one of His many Attributes, the most complete and elevated form of this knowledge belongs to those who recognize Him through His absolute perfection, majesty, and beauty.

Indeed, there is nothing comparable to Him in any of His Attributes. If one were to imagine all of creation in its most flawless and splendid state—both outwardly and inwardly—and then attempt to compare that collective beauty to the beauty of the Lord, such a comparison would be utterly inadequate. It would be like holding a dim torch against the brilliance of the sun.

This introduction is taken from the opening reflections of Shaykh Nāṣir al-Saʿdī—may Allah have mercy on him—in his tafsīr Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān, wherein he concisely and eloquently explains the Names of Allah as they appear in the Qur’an. Following each of his explanations, the translator has included verses from the Qur’an that exemplify the use of each Divine Name.

It is worth noting that the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy upon him, limited his enumeration to the Names explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an, which according to his count, total eighty-nine. Additional Names found in the Qur’an have been supplemented from the work of Shaykh Ibn ʿUthaymīn—Qawāʿid al-Muthlā fī Ṣifāt Allāh wa Asmāʾih al-Ḥusnā—bringing the total number of Divine Names covered to one hundred and three.

Before delving into the treatise, some general principles concerning the Names of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, will be presented for foundational understanding.