The Ninety-Nine Names · the 23rd name
الرَّافِع
Ar-Rafi'
The Exalter
- The rootر ف ع
- From the rootrafa'a: to raise, to lift up in rank or in place
The essay
He raises, and He does not use our criteria. The Qur'an says He raises in degrees those who believe and those given knowledge, and that the noblest among you is the most mindful: not the wealthiest, not the most followed. The historical record keeps embarrassing the rankings: the ones remembered were shepherds, orphans, freed slaves, a man who could not read. He raises whom He wills, and the wills is the part we keep trying to edit.
In the Qur'an
يَرۡفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمۡ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡعِلۡمَ دَرَجَٰتٖۚ
Allah raises in rank those of you who believe, and those who are given knowledge.
from the enumeration · the verse carries the meaning
What it asks of you
Stop building the case for your own promotion. Build the thing that is worth raising.
Read beside it
The words