الأوَّلُ
One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
Al-Awwal
The First
Al-Awwal is the First, whose existence has no beginning. Its verse is 57:3, four Names side by side, and it is mentioned once in the Quran. The Prophet ﷺ gave the meaning himself, in a du'a he said before sleep, and his Companions heard it in his answer to the people of Yemen.
Key verse
﴿هُوَ ٱلْأَوَّلُ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرُ وَٱلظَّـٰهِرُ وَٱلْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾He is the First and the Last, the Most High and Most Near, and He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.
The scholar's text
The First, The One whose Existence is without a beginning.
(هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ) الحديد 57: 3
(He is the First and the Last, the Most High and Most Near, and He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.) Al-Hadid 57:3
It is mentioned 1 time in the Holy Quran
الأول، الذي لا ابتداء لوجوده.
(هُوَ ٱلْأَوَّلُ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرُ وَٱلظَّـٰهِرُ وَٱلْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ) الحديد 57: 3
ورد في القرآن الكريم مرة واحدة.
Nothing Before Him
57:3 puts the First at the head of four Names. Al-Sa'di explains it in four words: the One before whom there is nothing. Al-Tabari says the same with a reason: He is before everything, without a limit, because He was when nothing else existed. That is the definition above too, an existence with no beginning. The verse then closes on His knowledge: He has perfect knowledge of all things.
Arabic: هو الأول والآخر والظاهر والباطن
تجعل آية الحديد الأول في مقدمة أربعة أسماء. قال السعدي: «الذي ليس قبله شيء»، وقال الطبري: «قبل كل شيء بغير حدّ»، «لأنه كان ولا شيء موجود سواه». وهو معنى التعريف: وجود لا ابتداء له. ثم تختم الآية بعلمه: ﴿وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾.
Explained by the Prophet ﷺ
The commentators differ over these four Names, al-Qurtubi notes, and then sets the differences aside: the Prophet ﷺ explained them in a way that leaves no need for anyone else's explanation. The explanation is a du'a he taught for going to sleep, in Sahih Muslim 2713. Its first line is the First: You are the First, and there is nothing before You. The closing part of the du'a is in the box below.
Arabic: اللهم أنت الأول فليس قبلك شيء
قال القرطبي بعد ذكر اختلاف المفسرين في هذه الأسماء: «وقد شرحها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم شرحا يغني عن قول كل قائل»، وذكر دعاء النوم في صحيح مسلم: «اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الأَوَّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَىْءٌ» (صحيح مسلم 2713)، وخاتمة الدعاء في آخر الصفحة.
What Was There in the Beginning?
People from Yemen came to the Prophet ﷺ to learn the religion, and they asked him how all this began. He answered: “There was Allah and nothing else before Him and His Throne was over the water, and He then created the Heavens and the Earth and wrote everything in the Book.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7418, narrated by Imran ibn Husayn). The first thing in his answer is Allah, with nothing before Him; creation, the heavens and the earth and the writing, come after.
Arabic: كان الله ولم يكن شيء قبله
جاء أناس من أهل اليمن إلى النبي ﷺ ليتفقهوا في الدين، وقالوا: «وَلِنَسْأَلَكَ عَنْ أَوَّلِ هَذَا الأَمْرِ مَا كَانَ»، فقال: «كَانَ اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَىْءٌ قَبْلَهُ، وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ، ثُمَّ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ، وَكَتَبَ فِي الذِّكْرِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ» (صحيح البخاري 7418، عن عمران بن حصين). فأول ما في جوابه: الله ولا شيء قبله، ثم الخلق والكتابة بعد ذلك.
When a Doubt Comes
Abu Zumayl once told Ibn Abbas there was something in his chest he could not bring himself to say. Ibn Abbas asked if it was a doubt, laughed, and said no one escapes that. Then he gave him a remedy: “If you find something in your heart, say: He is the first and the Last, the Evident and the Immanent, and He has full knowledge of all things” (Sunan Abi Dawud 5110; al-Albani graded its chain hasan). These are Ibn Abbas's words, and the words he told him to say are 57:3.
Arabic: إذا وجدت في نفسك شيئا
شكا أبو زميل إلى ابن عباس شيئا يجده في صدره لا يستطيع أن يتكلم به، فسأله: أشيء من شك؟ وضحك وقال: ما نجا من ذلك أحد، ثم قال: «إِذَا وَجَدْتَ فِي نَفْسِكَ شَيْئًا فَقُلْ هُوَ الأَوَّلُ وَالآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ» (سنن أبي داود 5110، حسن الألباني إسناده). وهذا قول ابن عباس، والذي أمره أن يقوله آية الحديد.
First in His Kindness
Al-Baghawi gathers what the early commentators said. Ibn Abbas: the First before everything without a beginning; He was, and nothing existed. Al-Suddi read it as a favour shown to you: He is First by His goodness, since He made His oneness known to you. And when Umar asked Ka'b about the verse, Ka'b said it means His knowledge of the first is like His knowledge of the last.
Arabic: هو الأول ببره
جمع البغوي أقوال السلف: «يعني هو الأول قبل كل شيء بلا ابتداء، كان هو ولم يكن شيء موجودا»، وهذا معنى قول ابن عباس. «وقال السدي: هو الأول ببره إذ عرفك توحيده». وسأل عمر كعبا عن الآية فقال: «إن علمه بالأول كعلمه بالآخر، وعلمه بالظاهر كعلمه بالباطن».
From the Sunnah
There was Allah and nothing else before Him and His Throne was over the water, and He then created the Heavens and the Earth and wrote everything in the Book.
كَانَ اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَىْءٌ قَبْلَهُ، وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ، ثُمَّ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ، وَكَتَبَ فِي الذِّكْرِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ
A du'a with this Name
اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الأَوَّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَىْءٌ وَأَنْتَ الآخِرُ فَلَيْسَ بَعْدَكَ شَىْءٌ وَأَنْتَ الظَّاهِرُ فَلَيْسَ فَوْقَكَ شَىْءٌ وَأَنْتَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَيْسَ دُونَكَ شَىْءٌ اقْضِ عَنَّا الدَّيْنَ وَأَغْنِنَا مِنَ الْفَقْرِ
O Allah, Thou art the First, there is naught before Thee, and Thou art the Last and there is naught after Thee, and Thou art Evident and there is nothing above Thee, and Thou art Innermost and there is nothing beyond Thee. Remove the burden of debt from us and relieve us from want.
Sahih Muslim 2713: from the du'a for going to sleep, as Abu Hurayrah reported from the Prophet ﷺ
Related Names
Questions about Al-Awwal
What does Al-Awwal mean?
Al-Awwal is the First: the One whose existence has no beginning.
Where is Al-Awwal in the Quran?
Al-Awwal appears in 57:3, at the head of the First, the Last, the Most High and the Most Near, and it is mentioned once in the Quran.
What is the difference between Al-Awwal and Al-Akhir?
Al-Awwal means nothing is before Him, and Al-Akhir means nothing is after Him: that is how the Prophet ﷺ put it in the du'a of Sahih Muslim 2713.
What should a person say when a doubt comes?
Ibn Abbas told Abu Zumayl to say 57:3 (Sunan Abi Dawud 5110; al-Albani graded its chain hasan).