and in the Sacred Hadith He, exalted and sublime, says: “O My servants, you will never attain the power to harm Me so as to harm Me, nor will you attain the power to benefit Me so as to benefit Me.” Thus He stands by Himself, needing no one, while He sustains all others; every creature besides Him is upheld only because Allah upholds it. Allah the Exalted says, “Is He who stands watch over every soul, aware of what it earns, like the one who has no power at all?” (Qur’an 13:33). The One who stands over every soul and what it earns is Allah alone.

Accordingly, al-Qayyūm carries two meanings: He subsists by Himself and He sustains others. “Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep.”

Sinna (drowsiness) is dozing, the prelude to sleep, and sleep itself is well known. Allah is seized by neither drowsiness nor sleep, whereas human beings are overtaken by both, whether they will it or not—a person may even fall asleep while praying or nod off while speaking. But Allah is overtaken by neither drowsiness nor sleep because His life and His self-subsistence are absolutely perfect. In the sound hadith the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah does not sleep, nor is it fitting for Him to sleep,” meaning