The Ninety-Nine Names · the 25th name
الْمُذِلّ
Al-Mudhill
The Giver of Dishonour
- The rootذ ل ل
- From the rootdhalla: to be lowly, humbled, made submissive
The essay
He humbles. The verse pairs it with the giving of honour inside a single sentence spoken by a man asking for sovereignty, which is where the pair belongs: both hands are His, and the same hand does both. Read alone this Name breeds either fear or cruelty. Read with its pair it says something quieter: that no humiliation you are suffering is permanent, and no elevation you are enjoying is owned.
In the Qur'an
وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلۡخَيۡرُۖ
You honour whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is all good.
from the enumeration · the verse carries the meaning
What it asks of you
Never take part in humbling someone. It is not your Name to carry, and the One whose it is watches you doing it.
Read beside it