The Ninety-Nine Names · the 71st name
الْمُقَدِّم
Al-Muqaddim
The Expediter, who brings forward
- The rootق د م
- From the rootqaddama: to put forward, to advance a thing ahead of another
The essay
He brings forward. Which nation rises now and which waits; which prayer is answered this year; which person, unqualified in every visible way, is put in front. The Qur'an says of a fixed term that they cannot advance it by an hour nor delay it, and the sentence sets the limit of human scheduling. This Name and its pair are not in the Book as nouns; they come to us from the enumeration narrated from the Prophet, and they are usually read together.
In the Qur'an
فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمۡ لَا يَسۡتَـٔۡخِرُونَ سَاعَةٗ وَلَا يَسۡتَقۡدِمُونَ
And when their term comes they cannot delay it by an hour, nor bring it forward.
from the enumeration · the verse carries the meaning
What it asks of you
You are not the scheduler. Do the work now and let the placing be done by the One who can see the whole queue.
Read beside it
The words