by worry or sorrow and said:

‘O Allah, I am Your servant, the son of Your servant and the son of Your maidservant. My forelock is in Your hand. Your judgment concerning me is carried out, and Your decree concerning me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You, by which You have named Yourself, or which You have revealed in Your Book, taught to any of Your creation, or kept to Yourself in Your knowledge of the unseen, to make the magnificent Quran the springtime of my heart, the healing of my breast, the dispeller of my sorrow, and the remover of my distress and worry,’

without Allah removing his worry and distress and replacing them with joy. They asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, should we not learn these words?’ He replied, ‘Indeed, whoever hears them should learn them.’”

This was narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad, by Abū Hātim, and by Ibn Hibbān in his Sahīh.

Al-Khattābī and others said:

This indicates that He has names which He has kept to Himself. It also indicates that the statement:

“Allah has ninety-nine names; whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise”

means that among His names are ninety-nine which, if a person enumerates them, he will enter Paradise. This is like someone saying, “I have a thousand dirhams that I have set aside for charity,” even though his wealth exceeds that amount.

Allah says in the Quran:

“To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them.”

He thus commanded that He be called upon by His Most Beautiful Names without restriction. He did not say that His Most Beautiful Names number only ninety-nine. The meaning of the hadith is thus preserved, and Allah knows best.