The 99 Names

Description

“Unto God belong the Most Beautiful Names; so call Him by them.” (Quran 7:180)

         These Names are beautiful in sound as well as substance; they are beautiful to the ear as well as to the heart. To call upon His Names is to practice remembrance of the Divine. Their recitation has long been a practice of the followers of the inner path to Him as a means of allowing an attribute of God to penetrate to the heart of the caller. It is a way to draw near, however slightly, to the Infinite.

“Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one.  Whoever learns them will enter Paradise.” (Ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ)

         Traditionally it is said in Islam that God has ninety-nine Names. These Names may vary slightly in different established lists, and some lists contain more than ninety-nine, but each of them is derived from the many terms used to describe Him in the Quran and Hadith. Therefore, when invoking these Names we are inviting into our being the very Names and attributes which He has enumerated for Himself.

         The Names in this recording are from the most standard list, narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah, and is one on which many Quranic commentators, including al-Ghazali, base their commentaries. It should be noted that even though the list of ninety-nine Names used here is one that commentators often rely on, it is not definitive. Moreover, it does not feature some of the Names mentioned in the Quran such as al-Aḥad, and there are alternative lists of divine Names compiled by authoritative Quran and Hadith experts.

“Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God.” (Quran 2:115)

         In a sense, the Names can be viewed as aspects of the Face that God shows to us, and these encompass all of creation. Just as light from one source passing through a prism reveals numerous colors contained with the light, the fact that God has many Names does not compromise His Oneness; rather, they reveal qualities contained within His One Essence. The Names are called the “most beautiful,” for each carries a meaning of the perfection, mercy, glory, grandeur, or eternity particular to it, and each is like a window opening onto an aspect of the Divine Nature. By contemplating these meanings our minds, which are limited, can perceive something of that Infinite Nature.

The 99 Names

1. ar-Raḥmān
The Most Gracious

2. ar-Raḥīm
The Most Merciful

3. al-Malik
The King

4. al-Quddūs
The Holy

5. as-Salām
The Source of Peace

6. al-Mu’min
The Source of Safety

7. al-Muhaymin
The Guardian

8. al-ʿAzīz
The Exalted

9. al-Jabbār
The All-Compelling

10. al-Mutakabbir
The Proud

11. al-Khāliq
The Creator

12. al-Bāriʿ
The Maker

13. al-Muṣawwir
The Fashioner

14. al-Ghaffār
The All-Forgiving

15. al-Qahhār
The All-Subjugating

16. al-Wahhāb
The All-Bestower

17. ar-Razzāq
The All-Provider

18. al-Fattāḥ
The Opener

19. al-Alīm
The Knowing

20. al-Qābiḍ
The One Who Constricts

21. al-Bāsiṭ
The One Who Expands

22. al-Khāfiḍ
The Abaser

23. ar-Rāfiʿ
The Exalter

24. al-Muʿizz
The Giver of Honor

25. al-Mudhill      
The Abaser

26. as-Samīʿ
The Hearing

27. al-Baṣīr
The All-Seeing

28. al-Ḥakam
The Judge

29. al-ʿAdl
The Jus

3o. al-Laṭīf
The Gentle

31. al-Khabīr
The All-Aware

32. al-Ḥalīm
The Forbearing

33. al-ʿAẓīm
The Most Great

34. al-Ghafūr
The Ever-Forgiving

35. ash-Shakūr
The Grateful

36. al-ʿAlī 
The High

37. al-Kabīr
The Great

38. al-Ḥafīẓ
The Preserver

39. al-Muqīt
The Nourisher

40. al-Ḥasīb
The Reckoner

41. al-Jalīl
The Majestic

42. al-Karīm
The Noble

43. ar-Raqīb
The Watchful

44. al-Mujīb
The Responder

45. ’al-Wāsi‘
The Vast

46. al-Ḥakīm
The Wise

47. al-Wadūd
The Loving

48. al-Majīd
The All-Glorious

49. al-Bāʿith
The Resurrector

50. ash-Shahīd
The Witness

51. ʾal-Ḥaqq
The Real

52. al-Wakīl
The Trustee

53. al-Qawī
The Strong

54. al-Matīn
The Firm

55. al-Walī
The Friend

56. al-Ḥamīd
The Praiseworthy

57. al-Muḥṣī
The Enumerator

58. al-Mubdi’
The Originator

59. al-Muʿīd
The Restorer

60. al-Muḥyī
The Giver of Life

61. al-Mumīt
The Bringer of Death

62. al-Ḥayy
The Living

63. al-Qayyūm
The Subsisting

64. al-Wājid
The Perceiver

65. al-Mājid
The Illustrious

66. al-Wāḥid
The One

67. aṣ-Ṣamad
The Self-Sufficient

68. al-Qādir
The All-Powerful

69. al-Muqtadir
The Determiner

70. al-Muqaddim
The Expediter

71. al-Muʿakhkhir
The Delayer

72. al-ʿAwwal
The First

73. al-ʿAkhir
The Last

74. aẓ-Ẓāhir
The Manifest

75. al-Bāṭin
The Hidden

76. al-Wālī
The Patron

77. al-Mutaʿālī
The Supremely Exalted

78. al-Barr
The Good

79. at-Tawwāb
The Ever-Returning

80. al-Muntaqim
The Avenger

81. al-ʿAfū
The Pardoner

82. ar-Raʿūf
The Kind

83. Māliku ʼl-Mulk
The Owner of the Kingdom

84 – 85.  Dhuʼl-Jalāli waʼl-ʼIkrām
The Possessor of Majesty and Generous Giving

86. al-Muqsiṭ
The Equitable

87. al-Jāmiʿ
The Gatherer

88. al-Ghanī
The Unneedy

89. al-Mughnī
The Enricher

90. al-Māniʿ
The Preventer

91. aḍ-Ḍārr
The Harmer

92. an-Nāfiʿ
The Benefiter

93. an-Nūr
The Light

94. al-Hādī
The Guide

95. al-Badīʿ
The Innovating

96. al-Bāqī
The Immutable

97. al-Wārith
The Heir

98. ar-Rashīd
The Guide to the Right Path

99. aṣ-Ṣabūr
The Patient

Credits

Performed, Composed & Arranged by Sami Yusuf
Words: Traditional

Backing Vocalists:
Raihanah, Isshrathquadhre, Khatija Rahman & Raheema Rahman

All percussions performed by Ömer Avci

Recorded, Mixed & Mastered by Vishnu Rajan @ Andante Studios

Additional Recording Studios:
Omer Avci Studio (Istanbul) recorded by Omer Avci
Panchathan Record Inn (Chennai) recorded by AR Ameen

Lyric Video by M. @ Andante Studios
Calligraphy by Muzaffar Zaidi

Artwork Design by Madi Jahangir @ Andante Studios

We wish to thank all those involved in the creation of this project.

Special thanks to:
Elouafi Mohammed
Dr. Yousef Casewit
Katherine O’Brien
The Rahman family

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