He is the Creator who has no need, the Provider who is never burdened; the One who brings death without fearing anyone.

Were it not for Allah’s upholding of the heavens, the earth and every creature would have collapsed and perished. Yet Allah keeps them in existence, safeguards them, and continually supplies them with whatever makes them thrive. All created beings therefore stand in absolute need of Him: “Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth lest they slip out of place, and if they were to slip no one could hold them after Him” (Q 35: 41).

He is the One who brought the creation into being while being in no need of them; He created them solely that they might worship Him: “I did not create jinn and humankind except to worship Me” (Q 51: 56). He did not create them because He needs anyone to support, assist, protect, or defend Him—exalted is He. Rather, He created them for worship, and it is they who are in need of worship, for worship links them to Allah and binds them to their Lord. It brings the servant close to Allah and, through it, the servant receives reward and recompense from Him. Worship, then, is a need of the creatures, not a need of Allah: “If you disbelieve—you and everyone on earth altogether—indeed Allah is self-sufficient, Praiseworthy” (Q 14: 8); “If you disbelieve, Allah is independent of you” (Q 39: 7).

The phrase “the Provider who is never burdened” means that He alone undertakes the provision of His servants, and nothing of what He possesses is diminished thereby.

“The One who brings death without fear” indicates that He causes the living to die when their appointed terms are complete—not because He fears them, but out of His wisdom. Worldly life has an end, whereas life in the Hereafter has none. Thus He does not cause them to die out of fear of them or to be rid of them; even if they were to disbelieve in Him, their disbelief would not harm Him in the least; rather