The Ninety-Nine Names · the 46th name
الْحَكِيم
Al-Hakim
The All-Wise
- The rootح ك م
- From the rootthe same root as Al-Hakam: judgement, and from it hikmah, wisdom
The essay
Wisdom in Arabic is knowledge that knows what to do. He is not only aware of everything; He places everything, and places it rightly, including the parts that look to us like errors in the design. The Qur'an pairs this Name with 'Alim more than any other pairing in the Book, and the pairing is doing real work: knowing without wisdom is data, and wisdom without knowing is guesswork.
In the Qur'an
قَالُواْ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ لَا عِلۡمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمۡتَنَآۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ
They said: glory be to You, we have no knowledge but what You have taught us. It is You who are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
When something makes no sense, hold the two Names together. He knows what you cannot see, and He placed it on purpose. That is not an explanation and it was never offered as one.
Read beside it
The words