Az-Zhāhir – Al-Bātin

The Manifest – The Hidden

The Manifest is the One Who is Higher and Above all things. Nothing is higher than Him. And He is the One Who Dominates and Encompasses everything.

As for ‘the Hidden’, it means the One Who is more Subtle than everything else, and nothing is closer to anything than He is. And He is All-Knowing of all secrets and hidden things.

These two noble names occur once in the Qur’an in a verse in Sūrat Al-Hadīd: {He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is All-Knowing of everything.} [Sūrat Al-Hadīd: 3]

They also occur in the Prophet’s Hadīth reported by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) involving a supplication to be said before sleep, and it reads, “And You are the Manifest and nothing is above You. You are the Hidden and nothing is more subtle than You.”[1] In light of these great names, let me say:

1. Your knowledge of these two names increases your recognition of the perfection of Allah Almighty, and your glorification and love for Him.
2. One of the best means for instilling modesty within a person’s heart is to consider his own weakness next to the greatness of his Lord, partially represented by these two names which indicate that Allah encompasses all creation in terms of time and place. He is the First, and everything else was initiated and created by Him; He is the Last, and everything else will perish and go away; He is the Manifest, and everything else declines against His greatness and highness and He is the Hidden, and so He is close to everything else, no matter how distant or hidden it may be.

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[1] Narrated by Muslim