- “Allah—there is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what lies before them and what lies behind them, and they do not comprehend anything of His knowledge except what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and safeguarding them does not weary Him. He is the Most High, the Most Great.” (2:255)
• The Prophet ﷺ informed us that this verse is, without reservation, the greatest verse in the Qur’an, and that its recitation protects the reader from devils and every form of evil, because it gathers within it the loftiest meanings of tawḥīd (pure monotheism), divine majesty, and the boundless perfections of Allah’s attributes.
• The verse declares that He is Allah, to whom belong every aspect of divinity, and that none besides Him deserves to be treated as a deity. Assigning divinity to anything else and worshipping other than Him is false and ruinous in both the immediate and the ultimate sense, whereas worshipping Him alone, without partner, is the truth that leads to every form of perfection. He is al-Ḥayy, whose life is absolutely perfect; and from the perfection of that life flow His being All-Hearing, All-Seeing, All-Powerful, His knowledge that encompasses all things—perfect from every angle.
• Al-Ḥayy (the Ever-Living) embraces all intrinsic attributes, while al-Qayyūm (the Sustainer) denotes the One who stands by Himself, needing none of the creation, yet sustains them—bringing them into existence, keeping them, and providing them with all that preserves them. Al-Qayyūm therefore comprises all attributes of action. It is for this reason that the report states the Supreme Name of Allah—by which, when He is invoked He answers and when He is asked He gives—is the phrase: “Allah—there is no deity except Him, al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūm,” for within these two noble names lie all perfections, intrinsic and active.
• Among the perfections of His life and His sustaining nature is that “neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep,” for such states befall only a creature subject to weakness, incapacity, and decay, whereas the One possessed of majesty, grandeur, and glory is exalted far above them.
• The verse also affirms that He owns everything in the heavens and on earth; all are His servants and possessions, and none can escape this inescapable reality. He is therefore the sovereign over every realm, characterized by the qualities of complete kingship, absolute and decisive control, authority, and supremacy.