Tafsir Asma Allah al-Husna li-al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (165)

Tafsir Asma Allah al-Husna li-al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

the attributes of perfection it possesses, for which it is loved and humbly obeyed. The Creator, majestic and exalted, lacks no attribute of perfection in any respect. Alternatively, a being is adored or worshipped for the benefit, care, and support it provides, bringing benefit to its worshipper and warding off harm. It is well known that Allah Most High alone has power over all of this, and that no created being has power to bring benefit or harm, death, life, or resurrection to itself or anyone else. Once a person firmly recognizes that Allah alone deserves worship, this necessarily leads him to direct his love, fear, and hope toward his Lord, turn to Him in all his affairs, and cease looking to other created beings, who possess neither perfection nor power to act of their own, and have no power or strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Magnificent1.”

The shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked whether the greatest of Allah’s names is a particular, known name or one that is neither specified nor known.

He answered: “Some people think that the greatest of Allah’s most beautiful names is known only to those whom Allah has singled out for an extraordinary miracle. This assumption is mistaken. Allah, blessed and exalted, has encouraged us to know His names and attributes, and has praised those who know them, understand them deeply, and invoke Him by them, both through worship and devotion and through petitions. Undoubtedly, His greatest name is the most deserving of this. He, Most High, is absolutely munificent; His bounty and generosity have no limit, and He loves to bestow generously upon His servants. Among His greatest gifts to them is making Himself known to them through His most beautiful names and most exalted attributes.

The correct view is that all His most beautiful names are beautiful, and every one of them is great. However, His greatest name is any name—whether on its own or paired with another—that denotes all the attributes of His Essence and His actions, or encompasses the meanings of all His attributes. For example:

Allah: this name encompasses all the meanings of divinity, namely, every attribute of perfection,

1 Al-Mawāhib al-Rabbāniyya min al-Āyāt al-Qur’āniyya, p. 62.

قام به من صفات الكمال فيحب ويخضع له لأجلها، والباري ﷻ لا يفوته من صفات الكمال شيء بوجه من الوجوه، أو يؤله أو بعبد لأجل نفعه وتوليه ونصره فيجلب النفع لمن عبده فيدفع عنه الضرر، ومن المعلوم أنَّ الله تعالى هو المالك لذلك كله، وأنَّ أحداً من الخلق لا يملك لنفسه ولا لغيره نفعاً ولا ضراً ولا موتاً ولا حياة ولا نشورا فإذا تقرر عنده أنَّ الله وحده المألوه أوجب له أن يعلق بربه حبه وخوفه ورجاءه، وأناب إليه في كل أموره، وقطع الإلتفات إلى غيره من المخلوقين ممن ليس له من نفسه كمال ولا له فعال ولا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله العلي العظيم١. وقد سئل الشيخ ﵀ عن الاسم الأعظم من أسماء الله هل هو اسم معين معروف أو اسم غير معين ولا معروف. فأجاب: "بعض الناس يظن أن الاسم الأعظم من أسماء الله الحسنى لا يعرفه إلا من خصه الله بكرامة خارقة للعادة، وهذا ظن خطأ، فإن الله ﵎ حثنا على معرفة أسمائه وصفاته، وأثنى على من عرفها، وتفقه فيها، ودعاء الله بها دعاء عبادة وتعبد ودعا مسألة، ولا ريب أنّ الاسم الأعظم منها أولاها بهذا الأمر، فإنه تعالى هو الجواد المطلق الذي لا منتهى لجوده وكرمه، وهو يحب الجود على عباده، ومن أعظم ما جاد به عليهم تعرفه لهم بأسمائه الحسنى وصفاته العليا، فالصواب أنّ الأسماء الحسنى كلها حسنى، وكل واحد منها عظيم، ولكن الاسم الأعظم منها كل اسم مفرد أو مقرون مع غيره إذا دل على جميع صفاته الذاتية والفعلية أو دل على معاني جميع الصفات مثل: الله، فإنه الاسم الجامع لمعاني الألوهية كلها، وهي جميع أوصاف الكمال،

١ المواهب الربانية من الآيات القرآنية (ص٦٢).