As-Sajdah · Makki · ayah 6 of 30

As-Sajdah 32:6

ذَٰلِكَ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

“That is the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,”

Saheeh International

Essence

The One who directs it all sees what is hidden and what is plain, cannot be overpowered, and bends over His creation with womb-like mercy.

A reflection

An eagle's nest on the highest crag

A man in his sixties comes home after a hip operation. He refuses the walking stick. He refuses the handrail his son fitted. He refuses his son's arm on the stairs. He would rather fall than be seen to need anyone.

That is the human dream of being ʿazīz: unassailable, needing no one, impossible to bring down. The ayah gives the word to Allah alone.

The first hearers knew its pictures. Ground called ʿazāz was hard earth where rain ran off and hooves could not sink in. A poet called the eagle ʿazīza, because she nests on the highest crags, out of every hand's reach. A thing ʿazza when it grew so rare it could hardly be found, and so became precious.

One commentary glosses the name simply: the One who has overcome everything, before whom every neck bows. Then it adds a line worth memorising. He is mighty in His mercy and merciful in His might. That is perfection: might with mercy, and mercy with might, merciful without any weakness.

Notice what this does to the ego. The man on the stairs thinks strength means needing no one. In creatures, that is a performance, and an exhausting one. His hip does not care about his pride. Only One is truly beyond reach, and He does not hoard it. The eagle's height is what lets her shelter her young.

Why would Allah call Himself mighty? Not because He needs us to be impressed. He is free of all need (35:15). We are told so that we stop pretending to a height we do not have. We are the ones on the stairs. Taking His arm is not humiliation. It is the only sensible thing a creature can do.

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.