الْعَلِيمُ
Al-Alim: The All-Knowing
He is the One Whose Knowledge encompasses all the outward and hidden matters, the open and secret, all those things that must necessarily occur, all those things that are impossible to occur and all things that can possibly occur, of the affairs of the whole of creation, of the past, the present and the future. There is absolutely nothing that is hidden from Him.
"Verily Allaah! With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, he sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow and no person knows in what land he will die. Indeed Allaah is All-Knowing, All-Aware." (31-34)
"O Mankind! We have created you from a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other. Verily, the most honourable of you in the Sight of Allaah is the most God-Fearing of you. Indeed Allaah is the All-Knower, the All-Aware." (49:13)
The Exalted said: “Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-wise.” (Al-Baqarah: 32)
The Linguistic Meaning:
To know the thing and recognize its reality. Our Lord, the Praiseworthy, is Al-Aaleem:
Knowing what happened, and what had happened before its happening, what is going to happen, and what will happen before it is happening. His Knowledge and Awareness is comprehensive to all matters, all possibilities and impossibilities, and nothing can escape His Knowledge in any moment of time, in any place, and He is settled over His Throne over all things.
The Grandeur of Al-Aaleem
He, the Exalted, “Had written the destiny of all creation before He created the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years.”; therefore, everything was completed, for all destinies happened according to His Precise Knowledge, without any delay or failure or change.
This name occurs in 152 verses of 43 surahs.
هُوَ ٱلْأَوَّلُ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرُ وَٱلظَّٰهِرُ وَٱلْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ٣
He is the First and the Last, the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing.
He is the First; nothing existed before Him. He is the Last; nothing will exist after Him. He is the Apparent; there is nothing above Him. He is the Intimate; there is nothing without Him, and He knows everything, He does not miss anything.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَٰوَٰتٍ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ٢٩
It is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth. Then He directed Himself to the heaven, [His being above all creation], and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things.
It is Allah alone Who created everything on earth for you: the countless rivers, trees and so on, from which you benefit and enjoy. Then He turned to the sky, making it into seven heavens, and He has knowledge of everything.
قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٣٢
They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."
Recognising their shortcomings and that everything comes from Allah, they said that they acknowledged that His judgement and sacred law could not be doubted, and that they had no knowledge except for the knowledge He had given them, accepting that He is the Knowing, from Whom nothing is hidden, and the Wise in His decrees and laws.
وَلَن يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًۢا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌۢ بِٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ٩٥
But never will they wish for it, ever, because of what their hands have put forth. And Allāh is Knowing of the wrongdoers.
They will never wish for death, because of what they have done in their lives: disbelieving in Allah, rejecting His prophets and distorting His scriptures. Allah knows the wrongdoers among them and other people: each person will be given what they have earned.
Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) got up to pray at night, he would make Takbīr and then say: "Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise. Blessed is Your name, exalted is Your greatness, and there is…
إِذَا قَامَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ كَبَّرَ ثُمَّ يَقُولُ " سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ وَتَبَارَكَ اسْمُكَ وَتَعَالَى جَدُّكَ وَلاَ إِلَهَ غَيْرُكَ " . ثُمَّ يَقُولُ " لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ " . ثَلاَثًا…
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَرَبُّ الأَرْضِ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ "
