Ar-Ra'd · Madani · ayah 9 of 43

Ar-Ra'd 13:9

عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْكَبِيرُ ٱلْمُتَعَالِ

“[He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Grand, the Exalted.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Four names close the passage: He knows the unseen and the seen, He is too great to measure, and too high for pride.

A reflection

The only One for whom 'great' is simply true

A man buys a modest semi-detached house and has a slate sign made for the gate: 'The Manor'. The neighbours smile. The house has not changed size. Only the label has swollen.

That is a near-perfect picture of what the lexicons say about the root k-b-r. It began with plain size, the opposite of small. Then it came to mean weight: a matter kabura on someone when it was too heavy to carry. And then the lexicons draw a line that matters. For Allah, greatness is His true state. In us, it is raising the self above what it deserves, because our real state is small.

So this ayah calls Him al-Kabīr, the Great, and the word has nowhere to swell to. Every other greatness is a sign on a gate. His is the house.

Someone may object: isn't it arrogant for God to call Himself great, when He condemns arrogance in us? The lexicons have already answered. Arrogance is a false claim to size. When a creature claims greatness, he is lying about what he is. When Allah names His greatness, He is describing what is.

Sahih Muslim reports the Prophet ﷺ conveying Allah's words. Might is His lower garment and grandeur is His cloak, and whoever contends with Him over them will be punished. Grandeur is not shared out, because it truly fits only One. A man who wears it is wearing clothes that are not his size.

One classical theologian adds that kabīr cannot mean size of body when said of Allah. It means greatness of power and of rule. That sharpens the lesson. Our pride is usually about bulk: a bigger house, a bigger title, a bigger following. His greatness is of another kind altogether.

Every prayer begins with Allāhu akbar, from the same root. It is not a slogan or a battle cry. It is the moment we take down our own slate signs and remember whose house we are standing in.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.