الْعَزِيزُ
One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
Al-Aziz
The Almighty
Al-Aziz is the Strong, the Defeater who is not defeated. Its verse is the end of Isa's plea on the Day of Judgment (5:118), and al-Sa'di explains why it names might and not mercy: He forgives out of full power, never out of weakness.
Key verse
﴿إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ﴾If You punish them, they belong to You after all. But if You forgive them, You are surely the Almighty, All-Wise.”
The scholar's text
The Strong, The Defeater who is not defeated
(إن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ ) المائدة 5 : 118
(“If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily You, only You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”) Al-Ma’idah 5: 118
It is mentioned 92 times in the Holy Quran
القوي، الغالب الذي لا يُغلب.
(إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ) المائدة 5: 118
ورد في القرآن الكريم 92 مرة.
If You Forgive Them
On the Day of Judgment Isa will be asked whether he told people to worship him and his mother (5:116). His answer ends with 5:118, and it closes on the Almighty, All-Wise, where a reader might expect the All-Forgiving. Al-Sa'di explains the choice. If You forgive them, the forgiveness comes from complete might and power, not like someone who pardons because he cannot do otherwise. And it is wise, because Your wisdom forgives whoever brings the means of forgiveness. Ibn Kathir adds that the words hand the matter back to Allah, who is not questioned about what He does.
Arabic: وإن تغفر لهم فإنك أنت العزيز الحكيم
يُسأل عيسى عليه السلام يوم القيامة: ﴿ءَأَنتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ ٱتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـٰهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ﴾، فيختم جوابه بآية المائدة 5: 118، وفيها العزيز الحكيم، وقد يتوقع القارئ الغفور الرحيم. قال السعدي: «فمغفرتك صادرة عن تمام عزة وقدرة، لا كمن يغفر ويعفو عن عجز وعدم قدرة». «الحكيم حيث كان من مقتضى حكمتك أن تغفر لمن أتى بأسباب المغفرة». وقال ابن كثير: «هذا الكلام يتضمن رد المشيئة إلى الله، عز وجل، فإنه الفعال لما يشاء، الذي لا يسأل عما يفعل وهم يسألون».
A Verse Repeated Until Morning
Abu Dharr reports: “The Prophet (ﷺ) stayed up all night repeating one verse”, and it was this verse (Sunan an-Nasa'i 1010, graded hasan by al-Albani). In another report the Prophet ﷺ recited the words of Ibrahim and of Isa about their people. “Then he raised his hands and said: O Lord, my Ummah, my Ummah, and wept”. Allah sent Jibril to ask him why, though He knew, and then sent him back with this: “Verily We will please thee with regard to your Ummah and would not displease thee” (Sahih Muslim 202).
Arabic: قام بآية حتى أصبح
عن أبي ذر رضي الله عنه: «قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَتَّى أَصْبَحَ بِآيَةٍ» (سنن النسائي 1010، حسنه الألباني). وفي صحيح مسلم أن النبي ﷺ تلا قول إبراهيم وقول عيسى، «فَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ وَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ أُمَّتِي أُمَّتِي، وَبَكَى»، فقال الله: «يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَرَبُّكَ أَعْلَمُ فَسَلْهُ مَا يُبْكِيكَ»، فلما أخبره رجع إليه جبريل بقوله: «إِنَّا سَنُرْضِيكَ فِي أُمَّتِكَ وَلاَ نَسُوءُكَ» (صحيح مسلم 202).
All Honour Belongs to Allah
﴿مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ ٱلْكَلِمُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ وَٱلْعَمَلُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحُ يَرْفَعُهُۥ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَمْكُرُونَ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ ۖ وَمَكْرُ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُوَ يَبُورُ﴾Whoever seeks honour and power, then ˹let them know that˺ all honour and power belongs to Allah. To Him ˹alone˺ good words ascend, and righteous deeds are raised up by Him. As for those who plot evil, they will suffer a severe punishment. And the plotting of such ˹people˺ is doomed ˹to fail˺.
Honour and might belong to Allah entirely, the Quran says (35:10). Al-Sa'di turns that into advice: whoever wants honour should ask for it from the One who holds it, and it is reached only by obeying Him. He gives it to whom He wills and withholds it from whom He wills, he says on 10:65. The hypocrites learned it the hard way in 63:8. Their leader boasted that the mighty would drive out the lowly, counting himself mighty, and the verse answers that honour belongs to Allah, His Messenger and the believers.
Arabic: فلله العزة جميعا
العزة لله جميعا. قال السعدي في ﴿مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا﴾: «أي: يا من يريد العزة، اطلبها ممن هي بيده، فإن العزة بيد اللّه، ولا تنال إلا بطاعته»، وفي آية يونس: «يؤتيها من يشاء، ويمنعها ممن يشاء». وقال في قول المنافقين: «بزعمه أنه هو وإخوانه من المنافقين الأعزون، وأن رسول الله ومن معه هم الأذلون»، فرد الله عليهم: ﴿وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾.
By Your Might
﴿قَالَ فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ﴾Satan said, “By Your Glory! I will certainly mislead them all,
Even Iblis knew the weight of this attribute. Given respite, he swore by it (38:82), and al-Sa'di reads the words, as one possibility, as an oath by the might of Allah to mislead them all. The believer turns the same words the other way, as protection. The Prophet ﷺ used to say: “I seek refuge (with YOU) by Your 'Izzat, None has the right to be worshipped but You Who does not die while the Jinns and the human beings die” (Sahih al-Bukhari 7383). And for a pain in the body he taught a companion to wipe the place with his right hand and seek refuge in Allah's might, in the words of the du'a below.
Arabic: فبعزتك
قال السعدي في ﴿فَبِعِزَّتِكَ لَأُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ﴾: «يحتمل أن الباء للقسم، وأنه أقسم بعزة اللّه ليغوينهم كلهم أجمعين». والمؤمن يستعمل الكلمة نفسها للاستعاذة، وكان النبي ﷺ يقول: «أَعُوذُ بِعِزَّتِكَ الَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ، الَّذِي لاَ يَمُوتُ وَالْجِنُّ وَالإِنْسُ يَمُوتُونَ» (صحيح البخاري 7383). وعلّم صحابيا يشتكي وجعا أن يمسح موضعه بيمينه سبع مرات ويستعيذ بعزة الله وقدرته، كما في الدعاء أدناه.
From the Sunnah
Then he raised his hands and said: O Lord, my Ummah, my Ummah, and wept; so Allah the High and the Exalted said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad (though your Lord knows it fully well) and ask him: What makes thee weep? So Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to him and asked him, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) informed him what he had said (though Allah knew it fully well). Upon this Allah said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad and say: Verily We will please thee with regard to your Ummah and would not displease thee
فَرَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ وَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ أُمَّتِي أُمَّتِي . وَبَكَى فَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَرَبُّكَ أَعْلَمُ فَسَلْهُ مَا يُبْكِيكَ فَأَتَاهُ جِبْرِيلُ - عَلَيْهِ الصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ - فَسَأَلَهُ فَأَخْبَرَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِمَا قَالَ . وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ . فَقَالَ اللَّهُ يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ فَقُلْ إِنَّا سَنُرْضِيكَ فِي أُمَّتِكَ وَلاَ نَسُوءُكَ
The Prophet (ﷺ) stayed up all night repeating one verse. The verse was: 'If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise
قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَتَّى أَصْبَحَ بِآيَةٍ وَالآيَةُ { إِنْ تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ وَإِنْ تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
A du'a with this Name
أَعُوذُ بِعِزَّةِ اللَّهِ وَقُدْرَتِهِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا أَجِدُ
I seek refuge in the dominance of Allah, and His might from the evil of what I find
Sunan Abi Dawud 3891, graded sahih by al-Albani: for a pain in the body, said seven times while wiping the place with the right hand
Related Names
Questions about Al-Aziz
What does Al-Aziz mean?
Al-Aziz is the Strong, the One who defeats and is never defeated. In The Clear Quran: the Almighty.
How many times is Al-Aziz in the Quran?
Al-Aziz is mentioned 92 times in the Quran. Its verse is 5:118.
Why does 5:118 end with the Almighty and not the All-Forgiving?
Al-Sa'di's answer: so that forgiveness is seen as coming from might, not from weakness. He forgives because He chooses to, and He is fully able not to.
How do I get honour, according to the Quran?
From Allah, by obeying Him. All honour belongs to Him (35:10), al-Sa'di says, and it is reached only through obedience.