Auron ka hai Payaam aur, mera Payaam aur hai, / Ishq key dardmand ka tarz–e–kalaam aur hai! (Iqbal)
It is a most glorious and overpowering star–burst of Allah’s beautiful names, in the midst of which I am trying – unsuccessfully – to hold myself back from talking about Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem specifically.
But how can I stop talking about Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem when Allah’s own book won’t stop talking about them? When Allah’s own book begins with Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem, and when every chapter of Allah’s book thereafter begins with Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem – except for Surah Taubah?
Ar–Rahmaan! It is an attributive name of Allah but is it the same as all the other names or is it somehow first among equals? But suffice it to say there is nothing, and no one, in this world, or anywhere, nicknamed Ar–Rahmaan. Isn’t that miracle enough for you, yes, no?
And there is no one whose second name is Ar–Rahmaan, is there? There is no one the first among whose 98 attributive names is Ar–Rahmaan – Allah being his first and proper name – is there?
Except of course Allah, the Most Merciful – Ar–Rahmaan – master of the worlds and God of Rahmah. One whose mercy, love, compassion and caring know no bounds or limits.
Laa Ilaaha Illaa Huw! It is only right, fair and proper that he – and he alone – should be our lord, God and master!
It was he who sent his messenger as mercy to the worlds – Rahmatul Lil ‘Aalameen!
Rahmaan for all, Raheem for some? Could it be that? Allahu akbar! Limiting and channeling his mercy? A–Hum Yaqsimoona Rahmata Rabbik? Are they the ones doling out the mercy and love of your master? How could they? And how dare they?
Could it be that he is Rahmaan here and now and he is Raheem then, there and later?
Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! But does the difference matter? However, there is one distinction that does seem to hold: Rahmaan in himself, Raheem in his outreach to his creation – Khalq. But who is to say?
What he says is that he is both Ar–Rahmaan (and) Ar–Raheem. And he says it without the help or intermediacy of “and.” The implication is that he is the most merciful, loving, caring, compassionate, gracious and beneficent. And that again he is the most merciful, loving, caring, compassionate, gracious and beneficent.
And the same all over again – one more time. Eternally and endlessly, no matter how you look at it.
Not just once but twice over, Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem – which is a standing miracle in itself, which encompasses the miracle of the missing “Wau“! Did anyone notice that these two names, the way he uses them in his book are not separated by an “and” – or the letter “Wau” in Arabic language?
It is not Ar–Rahmaan “War” Raheem. It is Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem! Did anyone notice that? Right there is another miracle for you, as big and glaring a miracle as you can possibly have or handle.
Not once does the Qur’ān use a “Wau.” Did anyone notice that? Do you want a bigger miracle or proof than that? I certainly don’t.
Not once – not twice, but every time the Qur’ān uses those expressions – all 114 times of them. What amazing model of consistency coming out of the mouth of an unlettered man – a man who could neither read nor write, that God Almighty raised up in a culture of unlettered people, most of whom could themselves neither read nor write.
This level of precision in editing at a time when there were no computers or printing presses and when books and libraries were most uncommon? It is nothing short of another stupendous and lustrous miracle that the Qur’ān is so full of.
This is another proof, all by itself, that the Qur’ān is from God and that Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, is God’s true messenger to humanity.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
But what does it mean – this case of the missing “Wau” between Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem? I don’t know, except that it leaves me speechless and wonder–struck. The fact that nothing separates the two: Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem!
Does it mean, among whatever else it means, nothing comes between the eternal and boundless fount of that love and mercy and its eternal and timeless and limitless flow to his creation?
Not even an “and” – a tiny little “Wau”? I don’t know! I don’t understand.
Except, of course, to say what the Qur’ān itself says: Rahmatee Wasi’at Kulla Shai’! It is just one, uninterrupted, unstoppable flood of divine mercy, love, compassion, tenderness, caring, beneficence, munificence and the rest that envelops everything.
You think about that and you go and figure that out, as someone I know put it recently – may Allah bless him! I certainly don’t understand it.
The man has a Ph.D. in engineering. But that did not stop him, Alhamdulillah, from using his brainpower, and his training and education, to “think” and to try to “figure out” the marvels and miracles of Allah’s Deen.
Nor did it stop him from inviting his fellow–Muslims and fellow–humans to do likewise: To Think.
It is Allah’s kingdom. He guides whom he wants, how and when he wants. As for those whom Allah misleads, you will find neither helper nor guide for them. Wa Many–Yudlil, Fa–lan Tajida Lahu Waliyyam Murshida, is how the Qur’ān puts it.
But what is inescapable is the overflow of Allah’s mercy from every direction that envelops his creation in every way. And who could better say it than Allah himself:
Rahmatee Wasi’at Kulla Shai? Paraphrase: My mercy, love, tenderness, kindness, caring, beneficence, compassion and grace extend to everything.
Or his angels whom he taught and made to say: Rabbanaa Wasi’ta Kulla Shai–in Rahmatan wa Ilmaa! Paraphrase: Our Lord, your love and your knowledge cover everything.
And then did you ever take time out to “think” about those ninety–nine lovely names of Allah? How so many of them actually talk about his infinite caring, giving, love, generosity and kindness in different ways and under different headings?
Rahmaan had to be coupled with Raheem, as if one was not enough! And as if all this was not enough, these two most glorious names and attributes had to be further highlighted by other names and attributes – such as Ghafoor and Ghaffaar!
What can I say? I am speechless and wonderstruck. You want proof? Go find it on your own. This to me is proof enough for a million lifetimes if I had them.
While so many of us are so busy fighting one another over so many issues, most of them so trivial and inconsequential, I feel all I want to do is to lose myself in the beauty of these two most beautiful names of Allah – and let my whole being, let every cell in my body, be dazzled and lit up by the power, majesty, radiance and glory of these two names and attributes of Allah – Ar–Rahmaan Ar–Raheem!
And then move on to do what little I can to let the rest of the world know about them and share their glory, light, majesty, power and brilliance!
And now, after all this, we are saying there is more? There are things beyond even Ar–Raheem, just as Ar–Raheem follows, impossibly as it seems to us, Ar–Rahmaan? How is it possible? But clearly it is. And it is one of those most amazing miracles of the Deen of Islam – and of the most glorious Al–Qur’ān.
And of Allah’s most wonderful and beloved Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.
Al–Asmaa’ Al–Husnaa! All those most, most beautiful and wonderful names of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta’aala! Let us take a look at some of them.
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