—Eternal, without beginning; everlasting, without end—
He neither perishes nor disappears.

Some people even open the prayer with this wording, saying, “There is no deity worthy of worship other than You.” Yet Allah alone is worshipped in truth, whereas anything else that is worshipped is worshipped in falsehood. The Exalted says, “That is because Allah alone is the Truth, and whatever they invoke besides Him is falsehood; and Allah is the Most High, the All-Great” (Q 22: 62).

This is also affirmed by His words, “He is the First and the Last” (Q 57: 3), and by the Prophet’s statement: “You are the First—nothing precedes You; and You are the Last—nothing comes after You.” (1)

The term qadīm (ancient, pre-eternal) may be used of Allah only as an informative description; it is not one of His Names. Among His Names is al-Awwal (the First). The two are not identical: something described as qadīm might still have something before it, whereas al-Awwal necessarily means that nothing precedes Him. The Prophet said, “You are the First—nothing precedes You.”

For that reason the author—may Allah have mercy on him—took care to say, “qadīm without beginning.” Had he merely said “qadīm” and stopped, the meaning would have been incorrect.

The words fanāʾ and bayd both signify extinction. Allah, exalted is He, is characterized by enduring, everlasting life, as He says: “And rely upon the Ever-Living….”