The Ninety-Nine Names · the 38th name
الْحَفِيظ
Al-Hafiz
The Preserver
- The rootح ف ظ
- From the roothafiza: to guard, to preserve, to keep something from being lost; the root behind memorising
The essay
To preserve is to keep a thing exactly as it was. He preserves the Book, which is why a boy in Indonesia and an old man in Morocco recite the same consonants. He preserves deeds, so nothing done is lost, and nothing done to you is lost either. And He preserves people, which is the part that goes unnoticed, because a danger that never arrived leaves no trace and gets no thanks.
In the Qur'an
فَإِن تَوَلَّوۡاْ فَقَدۡ أَبۡلَغۡتُكُم مَّآ أُرۡسِلۡتُ بِهِۦٓ إِلَيۡكُمۡۚ وَيَسۡتَخۡلِفُ رَبِّي قَوۡمًا غَيۡرَكُمۡ وَلَا تَضُرُّونَهُۥ شَيۡـًٔاۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٍ حَفِيظٞ
If they turn away: I have delivered to you what I was sent with. My Lord will put another people in your place, and you cannot harm Him at all. My Lord is Guardian over all things.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
Assume you have been protected from things you will never learn about. Live as someone who has been carried, not someone who has been lucky.
Read beside it
The words