Introduction
There is no power nor might except by Allah; upon Him I place my trust.
All praise is due to Allah—the First and the Last, the Hidden and the Manifest—who has full knowledge of everything. He is the First: nothing preceded Him. He is the Last: nothing shall outlast Him. He is the Manifest: nothing is above Him. He is the Hidden: nothing is beyond Him.
Eternal without beginning, everlasting without end, He has ever existed, characterized by the attributes of perfection, and will remain forever—unceasing, uninterrupted, indestructible.
He knows the stealthy tread of the black ant on the solid rock in the pitch-dark night, and He knows the number of grains of sand. He is the Most High, the All-Great, the Exalted, the Supreme—He who created everything and apportioned it with perfect measure.
He raised the heavens without pillars, adorned them with resplendent stars, placed within them a blazing lamp and a radiant moon, and above them He set a lofty, exalted, expansive, vaulted, circular canopy—the Mighty Throne—supported by colossal pillars, carried by
(1) This phrase is missing from the printed edition; in manuscript B it reads: “O Allah, send blessings and peace upon the noblest of creatures, our master Muḥammad.” It is likely a copyist’s addition, since the author treats it in detail later.
(2) This is a quotation from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) recorded by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ (no. 2713), in the chapter on remembrance and supplication (what one says at bedtime), on the authority of Abū Hurayra who reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“O Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth and Lord of the Mighty Throne, our Lord and Lord of all things, splitter of the grain and the date-stone, Revealer of the Tawrah (Torah), the Injīl (Gospel) and the Furqān, I seek refuge in You from the evil of every creature You seize by its forelock. O Allah, You are al-Awwal (the First)—there is nothing before You; You are al-Ākhir (the Last)—there is nothing after You; You are az-Zāhir (the Manifest)—there is nothing above You; You are al-Bāṭin (the Hidden)—there is nothing beneath You. Settle our debt and enrich us from poverty.”
This hadith serves as an exegesis of the words of the Most High: “He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is, of all things, Knowing” (Qur’an 57:3). The term al-Awwal (the First) denotes the one preceding all things; al-Ākhir (the Last), the one remaining after creation perishes; az-Zāhir (the Manifest), by His clear proofs and evidences demonstrating the truth of His unity—meaning He is above all things by His power, with “manifest” also implying supremacy or dominance; and al-Bāṭin (the Hidden), the one concealed from creation’s sight, whom no conjecture of modality can encompass, or the Hidden in relation to all things in terms of knowledge.
(3) The word muṣūfan (“described”) is omitted in the printed edition.
(4) This addition appears in the printed edition to complete the rhymed cadence.
(5) al-Shurjaʿ: literally “the long [style],” which the author explains as “the lofty and exalted.”