Scattered
Jewels

The Beautiful Names are scattered throughout the Qur'an,

but are clustered together in certain parts of the text,

with the Sura known as Women being a case in point.

In a sura containing more specific behavioural instructions than most,

it seems that God felt that to persuade the community to accept them

it was necessary to make absolutely clear

just where those instructions were coming from.

There are over fifty ayats in the sura

that end with the Name of either an Essence or an Attribute of God,

more than the next four Suras combined.

Different Names are used more than once,

and are coupled in different ways,

like the All-Wise,

linked to the All-Embracing on one occasion,

but linked with the All-Powerful three times,

whereas when paired with the All-Knowing

the All-Wise is seen in eight different places.

But there is no repetition, no unnecessary words in the Qur'an,

so the Names in each of those pairings must be seen

as not only how their relationship affects their meaning,

but also how it is affected by their context.

When speaking of raising Jesus up to heaven,

God links the Name of the All-Powerful with the All-Wise,

a combination we see again later

in the context of Abraham, Moses and all the Messengers.

God is All-Knowing and All-Wise during the setting of portions for inheritance,

but concludes the instructions as the All-Knowing and All-Gentle.

God is All-Knowing and All-Aware with regard to a married couples differences,

while for thankful believers, God is All-Thankful and All-Knowing.

With regard to the shouting of bad words,

God is All-Hearing and All-Knowing,

and concerning humankind's wish

for reward in this world and the next,

God is All-Hearing and All-Seeing.

As well as the Name pairings,

God's Attributes are also mentioned on several occasions

in terms of God's sufficiency.

So we are told God is

enough as a protector,

enough as a witness,

enough as a helper,

and enough as a guardian,

For those who beg forgiveness, God turns in forgiveness,

Ever-Merciful.

For those who are sorry, God accepts sorrow

and is Ever-Merciful,

and even in the context of forbidding cheating and killing,

God is Ever-Merciful to you.

And like knowledge and wisdom,

the link between mercy and forgiveness is stressed

on eight occasions throughout the sura,

with the linking of the Most-Forgiving and Ever-Merciful.

Of course there are other Suras known for containing the Beautiful Names,

like the Light Sura,

in which, among other Names and Attributes,

Forgiveness and Mercy are linked together four times,

with Hearing and Knowing put together twice.

How does their context affect their meaning?

Or there is sura Luqman

which has an interesting variety of Names for our guidance.

God is the All-Hearing and All-Seeing,

the Highest and All-Great,

the Subtle and All-Aware,

the All-Knowing and All-Aware.

The All-Powerful and All-Wise is there twice,

as is the Rich-Beyond-Need

and All-Praiseworthy.

What are the different contexts there?

But along with a subtler understanding of the Names

comes a greater appreciation of their beauty,

and tiny beautiful clusters of Names can be found in many places,

including the shorter suras,

such as in the opening ayat of The Assembly

which tells us that all that is in the heavens and the earth

gives glory to God,

the Monarch, the All-Holy,

the All-Powerful, the Wise.

And of course, we must not overlook

the pair of Beautiful Names that permeate the Qur'an,

Rahman and Rahim,

the Fount-of-All-Mercy and the Ever-Merciful.

Beginner of and divider between suras,

how many different ideas and understandings does that pairing bridge between?

More than mere mortals can distinguish, that's for sure.