هُوَ الأَوَّلُ وَالآخِرُ وَالظّاهِرُ وَالباطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيءٍ عَليمٌ

He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He has knowledge of all things.

EXEGESIS

The names by which God is described in Islam are broadly divided into the attributes of His essence (ṣifāt al-dhāt) versus those of His action (ṣifāt al-fiʿl). Divine names or attributes of essence are independent of creation, ‘unknowable’, and their number differs. Whereas most Shia theologians enumerate them as being three – knowledge, power, and life – with two more, will and eternality, being debated – the Asharites list them as being eight: the aforementioned five, plus the divine attributes of hearing, seeing, and speech.[1] All the rest are attributes of action and these encompass most of the traditionally-known ‘most beautiful names’ (al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā), a term derived from the verse, to Him belong the most beautiful names (20:8).

They include the names al-raḥmān (the Merciful), al-raḥīm (the Compassionate), al-bāriʾ (the Maker), al-muḥyī (the Giver of Life) and al-mumīt (the Causer of Death), and the four mentioned in this verse (the First, the Last, the Manifest, and the Hidden) the fifth and last in this verse – al-ʿalīm (Knower of all things) – being an attribute of knowledge and therefore of His essence. Al-ʿalīm (the Omniscient) is the intensive form of al-ʿālim (the Knower), also an attribute of God (13:9, 23:92, 32:6, 35:38, 59:22, 64:18) though the former is mentioned more copiously in the Quran. God being al-ʿalīm means He is limitless in His knowledge and any lack of knowledge is inconceivable for Him. His omniscience never diminishes, fails, or ceases to be. It is abundant, continuous, and all-pervasive, encompassing every existent.

Divine attributes of action are also, at times, further grouped into the names of beauty (jamāl) and majesty (jalāl).^[2]

And the most commonly used name for God – allāh – is not a specific attribute; it represents all divine attributes, collectively as one.

Not all the beautiful names are explicitly mentioned in the Quran. Many are derived indirectly from certain passages in the Quran and yet others are from traditions. And while God’s beautiful names are innumerable, what is popularly quoted is the prophetic tradition: ‘To God belongs ninety-nine names, whoever enumerates them will enter paradise.’^[3] But most scholars have interpreted this tradition as emphasising the merit of memorising and preserving these nine-nine names rather than limiting God’s infinite attributes. The supplication (dūʿāʾ) of al-Jawshan al-Kabīr, for example, is made up of a thousand names of God, comprising a hundred stanzas, each with ten names.

He is the First means He precedes all existents and is their originator. God was and there was nothing but Him. Nothing precedes Him, in any sense, be it time (existence), power, awareness (knowledge), or any other attribute. He is the First Cause from whom all causes emerge.

He is … the Last likewise means to Him do all effects end. He remains when all else is annihilated (55:26-27) just as He was the First when nothing existed.

The Manifest and the Hidden are divine attributes not to be mistaken with their apparent meanings. He is the Manifest but not in the sense of visibility. Rather, He is manifest in the sense that He predominates and overcomes all existents. He is above everything, untouched by His creation, yet whichever way you turn, there is the face of Allah! (2:115).

And the Hidden but without any veil. He is hidden in that none can truly know Him except He Himself, yet He encompasses everything and is omniscient of all things – and He has knowledge of all things. The sights do not apprehend Him (6:103) but We are nearer to him [man] than his jugular vein (50:16).

God’s ‘firstness’ without a start and outside the dimension of time thus refers to His azaliyyah (sempiternity) and His ‘lastness’ without an expiring end refers to His abadiyyah (eternity). And His being manifest and pervading all existents denotes His immanence (tashbīh), whereas His being hidden or ‘unknowable’, untouched by anything, points to His transcendence (tanzīh).

EXPOSITION

He is also the Manifest in the sense that all of creation serves as proof or signs (āyāt) of His presence and manifests His handiwork. Nothing can exist or subsist without God’s awareness of it. And all that exists is in fact a self-disclosure of God. He is not incarnate in anything yet He is closer to man than his jugular vein (50:16).

If He is hidden, that is only because of the intensity with which He pervades all things. If man asks: ‘Where is God?’ that is only because he is like a fish in water – so immersed in it that is unable to live without water yet its presence escapes it.

Yet the presence of God, which the mind or the senses cannot perceive, can be known by a pure heart. For the enlightened, debating God’s presence seems foolish, since it is impossible for anything to veil itself from Him.

In the exegesis attributed to Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), the meaning of God as the Hidden is explained as follows: ‘[No place is] ever without Him, for His being was when no place was. Through His kindness He veiled the essential nature of “He was” while through His power He made visible the fixedness of “He was”. Thus He made clear to us that “He was” but He veiled from us the essential nature of “He was”; but He disclosed to us the manifestation of the perfection of “He was” – through the realisation of which faith is perfected.’[4]

What this means is that God allowed Himself to be known through His signs and actions and attributes but not His essence (‘He veiled from us the essential nature of “He was”’). The words ‘through His kindness, He veiled the essential nature of “He was”’ is perhaps said because if God’s essential nature was not veiled from man then the immensity of that would overwhelm all besides God, and man would be incapable of seeing anything besides God. This ability to see other than Him is necessary for the forging of man’s soul in the anvil of the world’s trials so that, from it, can emerge the purity of the soul. Man rises from base traits (95:5), overcoming them, to attain greater awareness and consciousness of God and thereby perfecting the soul that is not only pure and chaste but one that replaces innocence and naivety with maturity. It is when man, out of his free will, chooses to see God’s presence behind the apparent that he attains perfection and becomes worthy of eternal bliss in paradise. Even if God appears hidden and veiled to most of His creation, one who has perfected his soul sees his Lord clearly and everywhere. In Imam Ali’s (a) words: ‘I never saw a thing but I saw God before it.’^[5]

And his son, Imam al-Husayn (a), the Prophet’s grandson, declared in his famous Supplication of ʿArafah: ‘How can You be proven with that which stands in need of You for its existence? Is there anything besides You manifest that is not Yours such that it could reveal You? When were You hidden that You should require evidence to point to You?! Or when were You distant that effects [whose cause You are] should be the ones to link to You?! Blind is the eye that does not see You watching over it!’^[6]

God is, therefore, the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, meaning He is all-encompassing (al-muḥīṭ), which stems from His absolute power and His knowledge because it is His power and knowledge that allow the encompassing of the existence of all things in every sense.^[7] This is perhaps why His power is given as the conclusion to the previous verse: and He has power over all things, and His knowledge concludes this verse: He has knowledge of all things. These two attributes surround the mention of the four names that stem from them via al-muḥīṭ (the all-encompassing).

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Ibn ʿUmar and Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, from the Prophet, who said: ‘People will not cease asking [in curiosity] about everything until they say: “This God, who was before everything – what then was before God?” So if they should say that to you then say: “He is the First before everything and He is the Last so there is nothing after Him – and He is the Manifest above all things – and He is the Hidden beyond everything, and He has knowledge of all things.”’^[8]
2. Imam Ali (a) was asked: ‘Where was our Lord before He created the heavens and the earth?’ He replied: ‘“Where” is a question concerning place; God was when there was no place.’[9]
3. In a sermon, Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Praise be to God for whom one condition does not proceed from another so that He may be the First before being the Last or He may be Manifest before being Hidden … every manifest thing other than Him is hidden but every hidden thing other than Him is incapable of being manifest.’^[10]
4. When asked by a man to describe God, Imam al-Hasan (a) said: ‘All praise is to God in whom there was no known “first” and any ending “last”, nor any perceptible “before” nor any defined “after”. So the intellect and imagination cannot comprehend or capture Him, nor thought or feeling, and nor can the mind truly know His attributes such that it may ask, “when [was He]” or “what did He start from” or “what was He manifest over” or “in what [or from what] was He hidden”.’^[11]
5. From Abū Baṣīr, who said: ‘I heard Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) saying: “God, the mighty and glorious, our Lord, never non-existed and His knowledge was [the same] even when there was no known. Then when He brought things into existence, knowledge came to be applied from Him unto the known.”’^[12]

Note: In other words, God’s knowledge of things did not come about when things came into existence for that would mean a change in God’s knowledge. Rather, things acquired the attribute of being ‘known’ from His eternal knowledge. Tabatabai has commented on this tradition, saying: ‘This knowledge is not a mental or rational image such that one might say God was like a builder of a house who first imagines a picture of the house in his mind before he constructs it then he builds it, based on what he imagined, we might say he transferred the image in his mind to the external physical structure as a reality. And, at some point, the house might collapse and cease to exist but it remains as a mental image in the mind of the builder. This is what is called universal knowledge (al-ʿilm al-kullī), but it is impossible to attribute to God, the exalted. Rather, His essence (dhāt) is the source of the knowledge by what He knows (ʿayn al-ʿilm bi-maʿlūmihi) then when the known (al-maʿlūm) becomes an external reality, its existence is identical with God’s knowledge of it (dhāt al-maʿlūm ʿayn ʿilmihi taʿālā bi-hi). So the first is called knowledge originating from the essence of God (al-ʿilm al-dhātī), and the latter knowledge originating from the act of God (al-ʿilm al-fiʿlī).’^[13]

6. In a sermon, Imam Ali (a) said: ‘And [God’s] knowledge is not by a[n external] means such that there would no [God’s] knowledge except through it. [In fact], there is nothing between Him and what He knows [meaning whatever exists is nothing] except His knowledge.’[14]

Note: Tabatabai has explained this as: ‘It means the essence (dhāt) of God is identical (ʿayn) to His knowledge and there is no question of any added concept or image.’^[15] And this agrees with the belief that God’s attributes are identical to His essence.

7. From Ibn Abī Yaʿfūr, who said: ‘I asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) concerning God’s words: He is the First and the Last, that we understand His being the First but His being the Last, explain for us its meaning.’ So he said: ‘There is nothing except that it has a start and it changes or change occurs in it and a decline; and it alters in colour, form, and attribute, increasing and [at times] decreasing, except for the Lord of the universe. He never ceased to be and never ceases to remain in the same state. He is the First before everything and He is the Last in not ceasing to be. Attributes and names do not change for Him as they change for other than Him, like the human being who was dust at one time and flesh and blood at another time, and declines and breaks down into decaying bones another time. Or like a piece of date that is a seed then an unripe date then a succulent ripe date and then a dried date, so its names and attributes keep changing, while God, the mighty and exalted, is unlike any of that.’^[16]
8. From Imam al-Riḍā (a): ‘Know, may God increase you in knowledge, that God, the sublime and exalted, is eternal … As for al-ẓāhir (the Manifest) it does not mean that He is literally above all things and sits over them … rather it means He vanquishes and subdues all things by His dominant power over them just like a man’s saying, “I dominated (ẓahartu) over my enemies” or “God gave me dominance (aẓharanī) over my adversary” … so in this manner is God al-ẓāhir over all things … and as for [His being] al-bāṭin (the Hidden) it is not in the sense of seeking concealment from things to penetrate them but rather it is a penetration and fathoming of things in [their] knowledge, preservation and regulating [of their affairs, meaning an encompassing of them in every sense] just like a man’s saying, “I have delved into him (abṭantuhu)” meaning “I have taken account of him and known his hidden secrets”.’^[17]

Note: The Imam appears to interpret ẓuhūr as dominance rather than manifestation.

9. Abū Hāshim al-Jaʿfarī reports: ‘I was with Imam al-Jawād (a) when a man asked him: “Inform me about the Lord, sublime and exalted, does He have names and attributes in His book? And His names and attributes, are they Him?” So Imam al-Jawād (a) replied: “This question has two dimensions. If by ‘are they Him’ you mean one who is multiple and many, then exalted is God above that; and if you [accept He is only one and] say: ‘These attributes and names are eternal’ then eternal also can have two meanings. If by eternal you mean in His knowledge [essence], then yes. But if you mean eternal in their forms and letters then far is God from there being anything with Him besides Him. Rather, God was when there was no creation [and therefore no names or attributes to define]. Then He created them [the names and letters] as a conduit between Himself and His creation so they can implore and beseech Him through them and worship Him, and so they [the names] are [the means for] His remembrance; God was when there was no remembrance nor anyone to remember Him with the remembrance [i.e. with the names and attributes]; He is the eternal who never ceased to be. So the names and attributes [of God] are created [words] whose meanings [that they point to] is God, who is not affected by any discord or harmony. And when God annihilates all things, the forms and letters will also annihilate but He that always was will not cease to remain the all-knowing!”’^[18]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes read these divine attributes as pairs: He is the First and the Last as one pair and He is the Manifest and the Hidden as the other.[19] But this pairing does not remove the idea of them being opposites to each other or contradictory. In fact, their mention in this verse as apparent opposites may be intentional to divest them from their common meanings and create awareness of them outside the dimensions of time and space. In Mulla Sadra’s words: ‘When one is first, he cannot be last, and one who is last is never first. One who is manifest cannot be called hidden, and one who is hidden is not manifest. This proves that for God, His being First is the same as His being Last and His being Manifest is the same as His being Hidden (awwaliyyatuhu ʿayn ākhiriyyatuhu wa ẓāhiriyyatuhu ʿayn bāṭiniyyatuhu).’^[20]

What Mulla Sadra wishes to say is that there is no being first or last for God. He simply is. The notion of being the First or the Last is only from the perspective of His creation who are bound by time, space, and such notions. Likewise, His being manifest or hidden is based on what His creation can comprehend of Him and what they are incapable of knowing of Him and hence, to His creation, He is manifest and hidden at once, His manifestness being how everything that exists can be comprehended as a self-disclosure of God. But as such, and unto Himself as the only true reality, He is neither manifest nor hidden.

Tustarī also notes this by remarking that just as the relevance and purpose of worship is none other than gnosis of He who is worshipped, the significance of these divine names is none other than gnosis (maʿrifah) of the He who is named.[21] Tustarī too, therefore, understands these names directly in relation to man rather than independent attributes of God that stand on their own. God, after all, has no need to be named. Any introduction of Himself is merely to bring greater awareness and realisation in the addressee. So, God is the Manifest in His exaltedness, His omnipotence, and His coerciveness, that man must stand in awe of; and He is the Hidden as the one who knows the hidden thoughts and stirrings that are concealed within the hearts of people.[22]

Tustarī continues this line of thought on God’s description in relation to man, in the following verse (see the Review of Tafsīr Literature for verse 4).

The mystic exegete Maybudī also proposes understanding these attributes of God as an allusion to God, saying: ‘O child of Adam, in relation to you the people of the world are four groups: a group who are useful to you at the beginning of the state and the first of life, and they are your parents. A group who are useful to you at the end of life and the weakness of old age, and they are your children. The third is the group of friends, brothers, and all the Muslims who are with you outwardly and show you tenderness. Fourth is the group of wives and women, who are your inner, inside realm, and are useful to you.’[23]

Maybudī then goes on to say that what God wishes to say to man in this verse is that do not place your trust and reliance, nor take your sense of security, from what you encounter as the first and the last of your life or the outward and inward means accessible to you. Rather, He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and all else are merely a means by which He nurtures and guides you. On Him then should you depend and place your trust for all your needs.

As well, in being the Manifest, God brings all outward matters to Himself through His apparent laws, the sharīʿah. And as the Hidden, He has placed the secrets of His decrees in the inner dimensions of faith, the ḥaqīqah. So when a man journeys in firstness, meaning takes the lead in his spiritual journey to God, then lastness charges forth, meaning eternal bliss. And when he journeys in the attributes of outwardness, meaning following the sharīʿah, then inwardness, meaning spiritual realisation and the ḥaqīqah, becomes his capital.[24]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

The following Biblical passages also speak of God as the First and the Last:

1. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.[25]
2. Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.[26]
3. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.[27]
4. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.[28]

[1] Subḥānī, al-Ilāhiyyāt ʿala Hudā al-Kitāb wa al-Sunnah wa al-ʿAql, 1/83-85; Jeffry R Halverson, Theology and Creed in Sunni Islam (New York: Palgrave McMillan, 2010), p. 20. See also the chapters on the attributes of God in the Iʿtiqādāt of Ṣadūq and the Taṣḥīḥ al-Iʿtiqād by his student, Mufīd, for the Shia theological view on God’s attributes of essence versus action.
[2] Glasse, New Encyclopedia of Islam, “Divine Names”, p. 118.
[3] Tawhid, p. 194; Khisal, 2/593; Bukhari, 3/185; Muslim, 8/64; Ibn Majah, 2/1269; Tirmidhi, 5/191-192.
[4] Farhana Mayer, Spiritual Gems (Louiseville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2011), p. 162.
[5] Mizan, 8/263; Mulla Sadra, Sharḥ Uṣūl al-Kāfī, 1/250.
[6] Iqbal, 1/349. The integrity of the last part of Duʿāʾ ʿArafah has been questioned. Some have attributed it to the fifteenth-century (seventh-century ah) Sufi, Ibn ʿAṭāʾ-Allāh al-Iskandarānī, but others, such as Jawādī Āmulī, doubt it is of Sufi origin and still hold it to be Imam al-Husayn’s (a) words (Jawādī Āmulī, Mīqāt-e Ḥajj, p. 184.
[7] Mizan, 19/145.
[8] Suyuti, 6/171.
[9] Kafi, 1/90, h. 5.
[10] Nahj, sermon 65.
[11] Tawhid, pp. 45-46, h. 5.
[12] Kafi, 1/107, h. 1.
[13] Mizan, 19/149.
[14] Kafi, 8/18, h. 4.
[15] Mizan, 19/149.
[16] Kafi, 1/115, h. 5.
[17] Kafi, 1/122, h. 2.
[18] Tawhid, p. 193, h. 7.
[19] Zamakhshari, 4/472; Alusi, 14/166-167.
[20] Sadra, 6/153.
[21] Tustari, p. 161.
[22] Tustari, p. 161.
[23] Maybudi, p. 496.
[24] Maybudi, p. 496.
[25] Revelation 1:8.
[26] Revelation 1:11.
[27] Revelation 22:13.
[28] Isaiah 48:12-13.