comprehensive in its affirmation of Allah’s oneness. And that is indeed the case, for these two names necessarily imply all of Allah’s other Most Beautiful Names and all the affirmation of His oneness, in word and deed, that they encompass. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned these two names when he said, “‘Allah, the One, the Self-Sufficient’ is equivalent to one-third of the Quran.”

His being One and Self-Sufficient means that all things turn to Him for His own sake and for what they seek from Him; that He is inherently independent of everything; that neither division nor perishing is possible for Him; and that He has no equal in any of His attributes and is free of anything else incompatible with His absolute self-sufficiency. This necessarily means that He is Living, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, the King, the Most Holy, the Source of Peace, the Overseer, the Almighty, the Compeller, the Supremely Great.

Once this is clear, the supplication that al-Rāzī mentions here is one of the two kinds of supplication: supplication in which one asks Allah and seeks something from Him. Allah Most High says:

“And when My servants ask you concerning Me, indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” [al-Baqarah 186]

Among forms of speech, this corresponds to remembrance consisting of extolling and praising Allah Most High. Hence it is said of al-Fātihah that half of it is praise and half is supplication. It is well known that facing the qiblah during this supplication is like facing it during remembrance