الْعَظِيمُ
One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah
Al-Azeem
The Greatest
Al-Azeem is the Great One, the Mighty, the One who deserves exaltation, glory and purity from every imperfection. Its verse is a command, So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Greatest (56:74), and the Prophet ﷺ placed that glorification in the bowing of every prayer.
Key verse
﴿فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ﴾So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Greatest.
The scholar's text
The Great One, The Mighty, The One deserving the attributes of Exaltment, Glory, Extolment, and Purity from all imperfection.
(فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ ) الواقعة 56: 74
(So glorify the Name of your Lord, the Greatest) Al-Waqia 56: 74
It is mentioned 9 times in the Holy Quran
العظيم، القوي، الذي يستحق صفات الرفعة والمجد والإجلال والتنزه عن كل نقص.
(فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ) الواقعة 56: 74
ورد في القرآن الكريم 9 مرات.
Glorify the Name of Your Lord
Its verse comes after a run of questions in Surah al-Waqi'ah about the water people drink and the fire they kindle. Ibn Kathir connects the command to them: the Greatest is the One who by His power made these opposite things, and had He willed He would have made the sweet water salt. Al-Sa'di spells out what glorifying Him means. Declare your Lord free of every fault, perfect in Names and attributes, and praise Him with your heart, your tongue and your limbs. He deserves to be thanked and not denied, remembered and not forgotten, obeyed and not disobeyed. The same command closes the surah (56:96).
Arabic: فسبح باسم ربك العظيم
جاء الأمر بالتسبيح بعد أسئلة في سورة الواقعة عن الماء الذي يشربونه والنار التي يورونها، فربطه ابن كثير بها: «أي: الذي بقدرته خلق هذه الأشياء المختلفة المتضادة الماء العذب الزلال البارد، ولو شاء لجعله ملحا أجاجا». وقال السعدي في معنى التسبيح: «أي: نزه ربك العظيم، كامل الأسماء والصفات، كثير الإحسان والخيرات، واحمده بقلبك ولسانك، وجوارحك، لأنه أهل لذلك، وهو المستحق لأن يشكر فلا يكفر، ويذكر فلا ينسى، ويطاع فلا يعصى». وختمت السورة بالأمر نفسه: ﴿فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ﴾ (الواقعة 56: 96).
Extol Your Lord in Bowing
The glorification has its own place in the prayer. Drawing aside the curtain of his room, the Prophet ﷺ told the people praying behind Abu Bakr: “So far as Ruk'u is concerned, extol in it the Great and Glorious Lord” (Sahih Muslim 479). Hudhayfa, who prayed a long night prayer behind him, reports that he “would then bow and say: Glory be to my Mighty Lord” (Sahih Muslim 772). In Arabic it is subhana rabbiya al-azim, the Name itself.
Arabic: فأما الركوع فعظموا فيه الرب
للتسبيح موضع في الصلاة، فقد كشف النبي ﷺ الستر ورأى الناس صفوفا خلف أبي بكر، فقال: «فَأَمَّا الرُّكُوعُ فَعَظِّمُوا فِيهِ الرَّبَّ» (صحيح مسلم 479). وصلى معه حذيفة ليلة طويلة القراءة، فقال: «ثُمَّ رَكَعَ فَجَعَلَ يَقُولُ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ» (صحيح مسلم 772)، وفي هذا الذكر الاسم نفسه.
The Most High, the Greatest
﴿ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ﴾Allah! There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission? He ˹fully˺ knows what is ahead of them and what is behind them, but no one can grasp any of His knowledge: except what He wills ˹to reveal˺. His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. For He is the Most High, the Greatest.
Ayat al-Kursi ends on two Names, the Most High and the Greatest (2:255). Al-Sa'di describes the second as the One before whose greatness the might of tyrants shrinks and the pride of conquering kings is humbled. He calls the verse, on its own, a creed in the Names and attributes of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ once asked Ubayy ibn Ka'b: “do you know the verse from the Book of Allah which, according to you, is the greatest?” Ubayy answered with this verse, and the Prophet ﷺ struck him on the chest and said: may knowledge be pleasant for you (Sahih Muslim 810).
Arabic: وهو العلي العظيم
تختم آية الكرسي باسمين: العلي العظيم. قال السعدي في ﴿وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ﴾: «الذي تتضائل عند عظمته جبروت الجبابرة، وتصغر في جانب جلاله أنوف الملوك القاهرة، فسبحان من له العظمة العظيمة والكبرياء الجسيمة والقهر والغلبة لكل شيء»، ثم قال: «فهذه الآية بمفردها عقيدة في أسماء الله وصفاته، متضمنة لجميع الأسماء الحسنى والصفات العلا». وسأل النبي ﷺ أبي بن كعب: «يَا أَبَا الْمُنْذِرِ أَتَدْرِي أَىُّ آيَةٍ مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ مَعَكَ أَعْظَمُ»، فأجاب بآية الكرسي: «قُلْتُ اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الْحَىُّ الْقَيُّومُ، قَالَ فَضَرَبَ فِي صَدْرِي وَقَالَ وَاللَّهِ لِيَهْنِكَ الْعِلْمُ أَبَا الْمُنْذِرِ» (صحيح مسلم 810).
Revering Him as He Deserves
﴿وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ مَطْوِيَّـٰتٌۢ بِيَمِينِهِۦ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَـٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ﴾They have not shown Allah His proper reverence: when on the Day of Judgment the ˹whole˺ earth will be in His Grip, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified and Exalted is He above what they associate ˹with Him˺!
39:67 names the failure that is the opposite of this Name. The idolaters, al-Sa'di explains, did not value their Lord as He deserves nor revere Him as He deserves: they made a deficient creature equal to the Greatest, whose grip holds the whole earth on the Day of Judgment. No one who sets another beside Him has revered Him truly, he says, and no one is more unjust. In Surah al-Haqqah the man given his record in his left hand is punished for the same root failure (69:33): in al-Sa'di's words, he disbelieved in his Lord and rejected the truth the messengers brought.
Arabic: وما قدروا الله حق قدره
قال السعدي في ﴿وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِۦ﴾: «وما قدر هؤلاء المشركون ربهم حق قدره، ولا عظموه حق تعظيمه»، فقد سووا مخلوقا ناقصا بالرب العظيم الذي ﴿وَٱلْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ﴾، «فلا عظمه حق عظمته من سوَّى به غيره، ولا أظلم منه». وفي سورة الحاقة يعذب من أوتي كتابه بشماله لهذا الأصل نفسه: ﴿إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ﴾، قال السعدي: «بأن كان كافرا بربه معاندا لرسله رادا ما جاءوا به من الحق».
Two Words, Light and Heavy
The Name also sits in one of the shortest remembrances the Prophet ﷺ taught: “There are two expressions which are very easy for the tongue to say, but they are very heavy in the balance and are very dear to The Beneficent (Allah), and they are, 'Subhan Allah Al- `Azim and 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6406). Both are a glorification, the same act its verse commands, and the first ends on al-Azim. Easy on the tongue, heavy in the balance, and loved by the Most Compassionate: the hadith gives all three in one sentence.
Arabic: كلمتان خفيفتان على اللسان
قال النبي ﷺ: «كَلِمَتَانِ خَفِيفَتَانِ عَلَى اللِّسَانِ، ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ، حَبِيبَتَانِ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ» (صحيح البخاري 6406). وكلتاهما تسبيح، وهو ما أمرت به آيته، والأولى تختم بالاسم العظيم.
From the Sunnah
So far as Ruk'u is concerned, extol in it the Great and Glorious Lord, and while prostrating yourselves be earnest in supplication, for it is fitting that your supplications should be answered
فَأَمَّا الرُّكُوعُ فَعَظِّمُوا فِيهِ الرَّبَّ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَأَمَّا السُّجُودُ فَاجْتَهِدُوا فِي الدُّعَاءِ فَقَمِنٌ أَنْ يُسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ
There are two expressions which are very easy for the tongue to say, but they are very heavy in the balance and are very dear to The Beneficent (Allah), and they are, 'Subhan Allah Al- `Azim and 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi
كَلِمَتَانِ خَفِيفَتَانِ عَلَى اللِّسَانِ، ثَقِيلَتَانِ فِي الْمِيزَانِ، حَبِيبَتَانِ إِلَى الرَّحْمَنِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ
A du'a with this Name
لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ الْحَلِيمُ، لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ، رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ
La ilaha illal-lahu Al-`Azim, al- Halim, La ilaha illal-lahu Rabbu-s-samawati wal-ard wa Rabbu-l-arsh il-azim
Sahih al-Bukhari 6345: what the Prophet ﷺ said at a time of distress
Related Names
Questions about Al-Azeem
What does Al-Azeem mean?
Al-Azeem is the Great One, the Mighty. The Clear Quran has the Greatest, in 2:255 and in its verse, 56:74.
How many times is Al-Azeem in the Quran?
Al-Azeem is mentioned 9 times in the Quran. Its verse is 56:74.
What do I say in ruku?
Subhana rabbiya al-azim. Hudhayfa reports that the Prophet ﷺ “would then bow and say: Glory be to my Mighty Lord” (Sahih Muslim 772).
Which verse of the Quran is the greatest?
Ayat al-Kursi, which ends with the Most High, the Greatest (2:255). Ubayy ibn Ka'b named it when the Prophet ﷺ asked him, and was praised for it (Sahih Muslim 810).