The Most Beautiful Names: Part 1

“And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them.” – Surah Al-A’raf 7:180

Join the MYM Staff as we reflect on the beautiful names of Allah through poetry. Here is Part 1.

Al-Aleem (العليم) – The All-Knowing
Manifest Secrets
By Aziza Pauff

Need no intermediary
My heart cries out in solitude, serenity
Pieces of my life are falling down
Internal walls collapsing without a sound
It is comfort I seek and peace of mind
Unfailing hope that I long to bind
With the thread of prayer to my fragile mind
At the end of the day, but One could know
What lies hidden, what I choose not to show
Though no other could ever withstand
I know that You will always understand
For all has already been laid out and planned

As human beings, we carry within us our share of secrets…daring dreams that we fear being mocked for should we utter them aloud, frantic frustrations that could turn our right side up relationships upside down, and silent struggles that we wish not to burden others with, nor that we much less believe they could understand in the first place. We keep these secrets carefully tucked beneath the folds of our inner being, hidden from a judgmental and disinterested world, some of them torturing us and some of them acting as mere passing thoughts from time to time. What we must bear in mind is that, our secrets, whether good or bad, no matter what the effort we may take to disclose them, are fully visible to Allah. They are plainly manifest to Him, the Knower of the unseen and the seen.

There are some lessons that we can derive from this. If our Creator is aware of our secrets, then is He not also aware of what is best for us? Should we not, then, strive to obey His commands and abstain from His prohibitions? Additionally, if our secrets are an open book to Him, then surely we would be foolish to entertain the thought that He doesn’t understand or care about the ups and downs that we face in our lives. He is the One that has planned our existence from birth to death to resurrection. Thus, we should never lose hope in His help and mercy, even in the most dire of circumstances. Finally, if we are concealing our secrets, then so are others. Thus, we should abstain from always being so quick to judge people without knowledge, for we are not privy to their fragility due to what they have been through.

–

Al-Mu’id (المعيد) – The Restorer
By Shaziya Barkat

and if He can take the dry, barren lands
that lay across the earth
and revive them again with rain
What makes you think
He can’t do the same
with your heart?

–

Al-Latif (اللطيف) – The Subtle One
Subtly Led Forward
By Iqra Asad

Where are you leading me?
You show me the way, step by step.
Ya Latif.
I try to keep going straight
I stumble
My heart cries out
Ya Latif
And You put me back on course
In ways I can’t understand
And sometimes don’t even feel
But the heart trusts
The heart knows
Wherever I’m headed
I will be fine
As long as I keep calling out to You,
Ya Latif.

I am most fond of “Al Latif” out of all of Allah’s names, simply because I find Allah in the little details we often miss. Al Latif means the Subtle, the Acquainted. He knows the littlest, innermost whim in our hearts, and He helps us in ways that we do not realize. As the years go by and I gain experience of living this life, I get to see many examples in my life of Allah guiding me away from bad and towards good. Most people do not have dramatic changes in their lives that lead to their betterment; most of us proceed towards Allah slowly and surely. I think of it as seeing one step further along the path with every step I take. There is no use trying to see all the way to the end of the path, as each person’s journey of life is different, but as long as we keep asking Al Latif to show us the straight way and to keep us upon it, we have nothing to fear.

I think there is a point in every person’s life where they greedily ask Allah for a sign, a miracle, something extraordinary that will strengthen their faith and help them to keep believing. Whether or not Allah grants us a personal miracle is up to Him, but living an ordinary everyday life means that we have so many opportunities to see Allah help and guide us in our routine existence, if only we understand.

–

Al-Baqi (الباقي) – The Everlasting One
By Shaziya Barkat

maybe,
that’s what life is.
a mere collection of hellos
and goodbyes
as we grip onto photographs,
lockets kept near our hearts
holding onto each moment
each face
each feeling
as if the frame can imprison time,
immortalizing all that we fear to lose
before it rushes back to the Everlasting One

–

As-Salam (السلام) – The Source of Peace
By Faeza Ashraf

Because when they ask, My Lord,
how I know I’m on the right path,
I have no words for them,
since this love cannot possibly be contained
within the frigid boundaries of man’s tongue.
And I deeply wish in that moment,
I could sever my heart from its abode,
manifesting for all to see
the peace you’ve granted me.
They’d see the truth.
And they’d see You.

–

As-Sami (السميع) – The Hearer of All
By Shaziya Barkat

when the night sky drapes above me
as a cloak
yet is unable to provide me with comfort

when the world sleeps
and the patters of my tears
are overshadowed by the rain
that pounds hard against my windows

each tear is no less
than a conversation,
for I find Him
always listening

–

At-Tawwab (التواب) – The Ever-Returning

Come to Prayer
By Aziza Pauff

You say your faith is in your heart
What an excellent place to start
But don’t stop there
If you truly wish to be transformed
Submit your limbs to prayer
Fall down upon your knees
And show Him your true need
Step back from the daily grind
And give yourself some peace of mind
For you know not the flavor
Until you’ve had the taste
As our youthful stance wavers
We have no time to waste
Do you really want to meet your Lord
After a life of such hurried haste
That for this, there simply was no space
The moment is soon
But you know what you must do
Come to prayer, come to success
He’s waiting for you