الْأَوَّلُ
Al-Awwal: The First
The Prophet explained these in a succinct and clear way while addressing his Lord,
"You are the First, there was none before You. You are the Last, there will be none after You. Your are the Manifest, there is nothing above You. You are the Inward, there is nothing close to you."
"He is the First, the Last, the Manifest and the Inward. He is the All-Knower of everything." (57:3)
The Exalted said: “He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him)”. (Al-Hadid: 3)
P.B.U.H. said: “God, You Are the First, for there is nothing before You, and You Are the Last, for there is nothing after You.”
God, glorified be Him, is the First: without a beginning, for there was nothing before Him or with Him; He precedes all things in existence by His Perfect Essence, High Stature and Attributes. He is also the Last: after everything, without an end to His Perpetual Existence and Descriptions. Being the First, means that He is the Cause of every boon, and being the Last indicates that He is the Ultimate Aim that creatures resort to for their needs and worship. Worshipping Him by His Name (The First) necessitates avoiding searching for the causes, because He starts giving favors without any means of the slave, and worshipping Him by His Name (The Last) means not trusting the causes (not trusting them by themselves only) because they will eventually vanish and only remains the Permanent, Who exists after them all.
This name occurs in 1 verse of 1 surah.
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.
Suhayl reported: Abu Sālih used to order us that if anyone of us wanted to sleep, he should lie on his right side, and then say: "O Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth and Lord of the Magnificent Throne! Our Lord, and the Lord of everything, the Cleaver of grains and date seeds, the…
اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَرَبَّ الأَرْضِ وَرَبَّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ رَبَّنَا وَرَبَّ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ فَالِقَ الْحَبِّ وَالنَّوَى وَمُنْزِلَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنْجِيلِ وَالْفُرْقَانِ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ…
