Among the supplications of Muhammad P.B.U.H.: “O God, forgive what I had done and what I will do, what I had hidden and what I had revealed, and what You had known better about me, for You Are the Advancer and the Delayer, no one has the right to be worshipped but You.”
God, the Praiseworthy is Al-Muqaddim and Al-Muakhkhir: He puts everything in its proper place, advances whatever He wills, and delays whatever He wills, by His Perfect Intention, Knowledge and Ability; He advanced the estimation of the magnitude before He created the universe, He made precedence and advanced the priority of His followers over others, and He delayed the ranking of whoever He willed.
The Grandeur of Al-Muqaddim, Al-Muakhkhir
He has the grandeur of universal and religious advancement and delay.
Universal Advancement and Delay:
It is lifting some creatures over others, and lowering the status of some below others, and advancing the causes before the causations. Religious Advancement and Delay:
It is related to God’s Love for a particular deed; His Advancement of some rule over other rules, that is suitable for the creatures, as He preferred the prophets over the rest of mankind, preferred some of His slaves over other slaves, and He lowered some of his slaves’ ranks below other slaves. He advanced the good over the bad, the knowledgeable over the ignorant, some deeds over other deeds, and His Delay is so grand that He wisely delays punishing the slaves in order that they might repent before the Day of Resurrection, He said: “And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He postpones them for an appointed term.” (An-Nahl: 61)
