الْحَكِيمُ
One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
Al-Hakeem
The All-Wise
Al-Hakeem comes to the scholar's page through 2:32: the angels confess they know only what Allah taught them, and close on the All-Knowing, All-Wise. Wisdom, al-Sa'di says there, is putting a thing in its fitting place, and Allah made nothing and ordered nothing without it.
Key verse
﴿قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ﴾They replied, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are truly the All-Knowing, All-Wise.”
The scholar's text
(قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ) البقرة 2: 32
(They replied, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are truly the All-Knowing, All-Wise.”) Al-Baqara 2:32
It is mentioned 91 times in the Holy Quran
(قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ) البقرة 2: 32
ورد في القرآن الكريم 91 مرة.
Each Thing in Its Fitting Place
The angels had not been taught the names. Asked for them, they glorified Allah, said they knew only what He had taught them, and called Him the All-Knowing, the All-Wise (2:32). Al-Sa'di defines the second. No creature falls outside His wisdom, he says, and no command of His strays from it. Nothing was made, and nothing ordered, without a wise purpose behind it; and wisdom itself is putting a thing in the place that fits it.
Arabic: وضع الشيء في موضعه
سئل الملائكة عن أسماء لا يعلمونها فأجابوا: ﴿قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَآ إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَلِيمُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ﴾. قال السعدي في الاسم الثاني: «الحكيم: من له الحكمة التامة التي لا يخرج عنها مخلوق، ولا يشذ عنها مأمور، فما خلق شيئا إلا لحكمة: ولا أمر بشيء إلا لحكمة، والحكمة: وضع الشيء في موضعه اللائق به».
Wise in Law and in Creation
﴿وَهُوَ ٱلْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٱلْخَبِيرُ﴾He reigns supreme over His creation. And He is the All-Wise, All-Aware.
After His power over His servants, 6:18 ends: and He is the All-Wise, All-Aware. Where is the wisdom? In His commands and prohibitions, al-Sa'di answers, in His rewards and punishments, and in what He created and decreed: the law He sends and the world He makes. The All-Aware beside it, he adds, sees secrets, hidden thoughts and the concealed side of things, and all of this is among the proofs of His oneness.
Arabic: وهو الحكيم الخبير
تختم آية الأنعام بالاسم بعد ذكر قهره لعباده: ﴿وَهُوَ ٱلْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِۦ ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٱلْخَبِيرُ﴾. قال السعدي في الحكيم: «فيما أمر به ونهى، وأثاب، وعاقب، وفيما خلق وقدر»، أي في الشرع والخلق، وفي الخبير: «المطلع على السرائر والضمائر وخفايا الأمور، وهذا كله من أدلة التوحيد».
A Book From One All-Wise
﴿الٓر ۚ كِتَـٰبٌ أُحْكِمَتْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ﴾Alif-Lãm-Ra. ˹This is˺ a Book whose verses are well perfected and then fully explained. ˹It is˺ from the One ˹Who is˺ All-Wise, All-Aware.
A Book whose verses are well perfected and then fully explained, from the One who is All-Wise, All-Aware: that is how 11:1 opens Surah Hud. For al-Sa'di, perfected means made precise and fine. What it reports is true, what it commands and forbids is just, its wording is eloquent and its meaning beautiful. And the All-Wise puts things in their places and commands and forbids only what His wisdom requires. 41:42 adds that falsehood cannot reach it; no devil of humans or jinn can steal from it, slip anything in, add or take away, and that is why, he says, the Book holds complete wisdom, bringing benefit and keeping harm away.
Arabic: كتاب أحكمت آياته
تصف آية هود القرآن في مطلع السورة: ﴿كِتَـٰبٌ أُحْكِمَتْ ءَايَـٰتُهُۥ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ﴾. قال السعدي: «أي: أتقنت وأحسنت، صادقة أخبارها، عادلة أوامرها ونواهيها، فصيحة ألفاظه بهية معانيه»، وقال في الحكيم: «يضع الأشياء مواضعها، وينزلها منازلها، لا يأمر ولا ينهى إلا بما تقتضيه حكمته». وتزيد آية فصلت: ﴿لَّا يَأْتِيهِ ٱلْبَـٰطِلُ مِنۢ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِۦ ۖ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ﴾، قال السعدي: «أي: لا يقربه شيطان من شياطين الإنس والجن، لا بسرقة، ولا بإدخال ما ليس منه به، ولا بزيادة ولا نقص، فهو محفوظ في تنزيله، محفوظة ألفاظه ومعانيه»، ثم قال: «فلهذا كان كتابه، مشتملاً على تمام الحكمة، وعلى تحصيل المصالح والمنافع، ودفع المفاسد والمضار».
Whoever Is Granted Wisdom
﴿يُؤْتِى ٱلْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُؤْتَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِىَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ﴾He grants wisdom to whoever He wills. And whoever is granted wisdom is certainly blessed with a great privilege. But none will be mindful ˹of this˺ except people of reason.
The All-Wise also gives wisdom: He grants wisdom to whoever He wills, and whoever is granted wisdom is certainly blessed with a great privilege (2:269). Al-Sa'di names what it is, beneficial knowledge, righteous action, and knowing the secrets and purposes of the laws, and says its owner is singled out as one of the heirs of the prophets. The Prophet ﷺ made it one of only two things worth envying: “There should be no envy but only in case of two persons: one having been endowed with wealth and power to spend it in the cause of Truth, and (the other) who has been endowed with wisdom and he decides cases with the help of it and teaches it (to others)” (Sahih Muslim 816).
Arabic: ومن يؤت الحكمة فقد أوتي خيرا كثيرا
والحكيم يؤتي الحكمة: ﴿يُؤْتِى ٱلْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَمَن يُؤْتَ ٱلْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِىَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ﴾. قال السعدي: «وهي العلم النافع والعمل الصالح ومعرفة أسرار الشرائع وحكمها»، و«وفيه التخصيص بهذا الفضل وكونه من ورثة الأنبياء». وقال النبي ﷺ: «لاَ حَسَدَ إِلاَّ فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَالاً فَسَلَّطَهُ عَلَى هَلَكَتِهِ فِي الْحَقِّ وَرَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ حِكْمَةً فَهُوَ يَقْضِي بِهَا وَيُعَلِّمُهَا» (صحيح مسلم 816).
The Most Just of All Judges
﴿أَلَيْسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ ٱلْحَـٰكِمِينَ﴾Is Allah not the most just of all judges?
The last verse of Surah at-Tin asks, with a word from this root: is Allah not the most just of all judges (95:8)? Al-Sa'di turns it into an argument from wisdom. Would His wisdom leave people to themselves, with no command and no prohibition, no reward and no punishment? The One who created man stage after stage and gave him more good than he can count must bring him back, he says, to a home that is his final resting place.
Arabic: أليس الله بأحكم الحاكمين
تختم سورة التين بسؤال من الجذر نفسه: ﴿أَلَيْسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحْكَمِ ٱلْحَـٰكِمِينَ﴾. قال السعدي: «فهل تقتضي حكمته أن يترك الخلق سدى لا يؤمرون ولا ينهون، ولا يثابون ولا يعاقبون؟»، ثم قال: «أم الذي خلق الإنسان أطوارًا بعد أطوار، وأوصل إليهم من النعم والخير والبر ما لا يحصونه، ورباهم التربية الحسنة، لا بد أن يعيدهم إلى دار هي مستقرهم وغايتهم، التي إليها يقصدون، ونحوها يؤمون».
From the Sunnah
There should be no envy but only in case of two persons: one having been endowed with wealth and power to spend it in the cause of Truth, and (the other) who has been endowed with wisdom and he decides cases with the help of it and teaches it (to others)
لاَ حَسَدَ إِلاَّ فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَالاً فَسَلَّطَهُ عَلَى هَلَكَتِهِ فِي الْحَقِّ وَرَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ حِكْمَةً فَهُوَ يَقْضِي بِهَا وَيُعَلِّمُهَا
A du'a with this Name
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ كَبِيرًا وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ كَثِيرًا سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ لاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ
There is no god but Allah, the One, having no partner with Him. Allah is the Greatest of the great and all praise is due to Him. Hallowed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds, there is no Might and Power but that of Allah, the All-Powerful and the Wise.
Sahih Muslim 2696: words the Prophet ﷺ taught a Bedouin who asked him what to say, as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas reported
Related Names
Questions about Al-Hakeem
What does Al-Hakeem mean?
All-Wise. Al-Sa'di, on 2:32: Allah made nothing and commanded nothing except for a wise purpose, and wisdom is to put a thing in its right place.
How many times is Al-Hakeem in the Quran?
Ninety-one, the scholar writes, citing 2:32.
What wisdom does Allah grant people?
On 2:269 al-Sa'di names three things: useful knowledge, good deeds, and seeing the purposes behind the laws. Whoever has them is counted among the prophets' heirs.
Is there a dhikr with this Name?
A Bedouin asked the Prophet ﷺ what to say, and the words he was taught end: there is no might and power but that of Allah, the All-Powerful and the Wise (Sahih Muslim 2696).