The Ninety-Nine Names · the 73rd name
الْأَوَّل
Al-Awwal
The First, before whom there is nothing
- The rootا و ل
- From the rootawwal: first, prior; the beginning of a sequence
The essay
He is the First, and the Name is not about being early. It means there was no before. Everything else that exists has a moment on the far side of which it was not. Ask what came before Him and the question fails, the way asking what is north of the North Pole fails. This Name and the three that follow arrive in one verse, four in a row, and they are meant to be read as one sentence.
In the Qur'an
هُوَ ٱلۡأَوَّلُ وَٱلۡأٓخِرُ وَٱلظَّـٰهِرُ وَٱلۡبَاطِنُۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمٌ
He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows all things.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
Trace anything back far enough and you arrive at a beginning that has no beginning. Sit there for a minute before moving on.
Read beside it