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Allah Almighty praises His Sublime Self, saying: {He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden; and He is All-Knowing of everything.} [Surat al-Hadīd: 3]
The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allāhumma rabb as-samāwāti wa rabb al-ard wa rabb al-‘arsh al-‘azhīm rabbana wa rabba kulli shay’ fāliq al-habbi wa an-nawa wa munzil al-tawrāh wa al-injil wa al-furqān a‘udhu bika min sharri kulli shay’in anta ākhidhun binasiyatih (O Allah, the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Magnificent Throne. Our Lord and the Lord of everything, the Splitter of the grain and the date-stone, the Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Furqān (the Qur’an), I seek refuge in You from the evil of everything that You seize by the forelock.)
Allāhumma anta al-awwalu fa laysa qablaka shay’ wa anta al-ākhiru fa laysa ba‘daka shay’ wa anta al-zhāhiru fa laysa fawqaka shay’ wa anta al-bātinu fa laysa dūnaka shay’ iqdi ‘anna ad-dayn wa aghnina min al-faqr (O Allah, You are the First; nothing was before you. You are the Last; nothing will be after You. You are the Outward; nothing is above You. You are the Inward; nothing is below You. Remove our debts from us and enrich us against poverty!)” [Narrated by Muslim]
He is the First, before Whom there was nothing.
He is the Last, after Whom there will be nothing.
He is the Manifest, above Whom there is nothing.
He is the Hidden, below Whom there is nothing.
All these names revolve around the meaning that Allah Almighty encompasses His creation in terms of time and place.
The Names "the First and the Last" indicate that He is Encompassing in time, for there is nothing before Him; all things came into existence after Him, and He preceded them all.
And there is nothing after Him. He is the Ever-Lasting and will remain after all His creation perish.
Allah’s Names "the Outward and the Inward" indicate that He encompasses His creation in terms of place. He is above everything, and nothing is higher than Him. He is High above the Throne, and the Throne is the highest among created things. And Allah Almighty is High and Exalted in terms of His Self, status, attributes, and vanquishing power.
And nothing is below Allah Almighty, the Inward. This means that He encompasses all things and is nearer to them than their own selves. He watches over all consciences and knows the innermost thoughts and feelings.
Although He is Exalted and High above the Throne and over the heavens, He is near to His servants and watchful over their outward and inward aspects. {And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein.} [Surat Qāf: 16] {Say: “Whether you conceal what is in your hearts or reveal it, Allah knows it.”} [Surat Ᾱl-‘Imrān: 29]
He hears your speech and sees your deeds. Nothing of your secrets is hidden from Him.
One day the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) heard his Companions supplicate to Allah Almighty loudly. Thereupon, he said: “O people, do not trouble yourselves too much. He Whom you are invoking is not deaf or absent, rather you are invoking an All-Hearing and All-Seeing (Lord).” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
You whisper in your prostration: “Subhāna rabbi al-A‘la (Glory be to my Lord, the Most High!)” And behold! The heavens open their doors to your supplication and the Lord hears you. Do not ever think that He is distant or that any secret of yours could be hidden from Him!
He hears the creeping of a black ant on a hard rock in a dark night! {Not a leaf falls but that He knows it.} [Surat al-An‘ām: 59]
Out of His wisdom and grace, He reminds us that He initiated the creation of all created beings and that they are all slaves to Him. So, as He alone brought us into existence, we should also worship and love Him alone as the One and Only God.
If you become helpless and surrounded by fears, remember that He is the First and the Last, that He is close to you, and that He is Able to do all things and is Vanquisher over His servants, and He directs every matter from the heaven to the earth and then it ascends to Him. And remember that He is Watchful over your innermost thoughts and feelings.
Thus, your heart has a Lord to turn to, a God to worship, and an Eternal Refuge to rely upon for the fulfillment of needs and relief from distress. If this settles in you, your heart will be joyful, your soul will calm down, your conscience will be at ease, and relief will be at hand, as you know that Allah is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and that He is Able to do all things.
The fire did not burn Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) on account of divine care and protection. {We said: “O fire, be cool and safety for Abraham.”} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 69]
Also, Mūsa (peace be upon him) did not drown at the sea, because he said with a confident voice while believing in the power of Allah, {He said: “No, indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me.”} [Surat ash-Shu‘arā’: 62]
And as Yūnus (peace be upon him) was in the belly of the whale, he called out, {There is no god but You; Glorified are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 87] A weak voice that was released from the three layers of darkness: the darkness of the night, the darkness of the sea, and the darkness in the belly of the whale. It pierced these layers and headed towards the heaven. Thereupon, relief came.
And for the helpless person there are subtle and kind acts in the unseen!
They had already been predestined for him!
A person cannot confront events alone, nor can he deal with disasters and grave matters. This is because he is created weak and powerless, unless he relies upon his Lord, as he knows that He is the First Who had preceded everything, and the Last Who will remain after everything, and that He is the Manifest Who is above everything and the Hidden Who is closer to everything.
No heaven can hide another heaven from Him, nor can an earth hide another earth. Manifest cannot cover hidden things from Him because hidden things are manifest to Him, the unseen is seen, the distant is near, and the secret is overt for Him.
How blissful he is who gets attached to Allah Almighty, learns the names of his Lord, reforms his own inner self, performs his deeds with sincerity, clings to patience, and places his trust in the Creator! That is devotion along with pure love and affection.
Longing for Him grips and shakes me!
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him) said, “Learning these four names - the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden - is the pillar of knowledge. It behooves a person to know them as much as his ability and understanding can take him.”
He is the First and the Last!
Nothing had preceded Him, and nothing will come after Him!
Knowing these four names and their meanings have profound impact in warding off Satan’s whisperings.
A man called Abu Zumayl came to the prominent scholar of the Ummah, ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him, “O Ibn ‘Abbās, I find something within my heart.”He said, "What is it?" He said, “By Allah, I will not reveal it.” He said, “Is it something of doubt?” Then he laughed and added, “No one could be safe from that, until Allah Almighty revealed: {So if you are in doubt [O Muhammad] about what We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord; so never be among those who doubt.} [Surat Yūnus: 94]”
Then, he said to me, “If you find something within your heart, say, {He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden; and He is All-Knowing of everything.} [Surat al-Hadīd: 3]”
O Allah, the First and the Last and the Manifest and the Hidden, reform our innermost selves, grant us a good end in all affairs, and save us from disgrace in this world and in the Hereafter!
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