Al Awwal
The First, before all beginnings
The First, before whom there was nothing at all.
Al-Awwal was when nothing else was. Every chain of causes climbed backwards ends at Him; every origin story opens inside His prior existence. Time itself is among the things He precedes, being its Creator.
Mentions of Al Awwal
From the Quran & Hadith
From the root hamza-waw-lam (أ و ل), which carries the classical Arabic connotations of being first and foremost, preceding everything. His firstness is not position in a sequence but absolute precedence: before every 'before', with nothing prior. The Prophet ﷺ defined it past all philosophy: 'You are the First, so there is nothing before You.'
The four Names of encompassment
One majestic verse holds this Name with its three companions: 'He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is, of all things, Knowing' (Quran 57:3). The Prophet ﷺ unfolded it in his sleep dua: 'You are the First, so there is nothing before You; and You are the Last, so there is nothing after You; and You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You; and You are the Hidden, so there is nothing beyond You' (Sahih Muslim 2713). Four directions, time backwards and forwards, being outward and inward, all sealed by Him.
Firstness settles ownership
Because He precedes everything, everything arrived into what was already His. No creature brought materials of its own into existence; the very self that boasts was issued to it. The scholars draw the devotional conclusion: since He was first before every blessing, He is the address of gratitude for all of them, and since He preceded your existence with His care, entrust Him with what comes after it.
Huwa-l-Awwalu wa-l-Ākhiru wa-dh-Dhāhiru wa-l-Bāṭin, wa huwa bi-kulli shay'in ʿalīm.
“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is, of all things, Knowing.”
The Prophet ﷺ would say before sleep: 'O Allah... You are the First, so there is nothing before You; and You are the Last, so there is nothing after You; and You are the Manifest, so there is nothing above You; and You are the Hidden, so there is nothing beyond You. Settle our debt for us and enrich us from poverty.'
Everything you love had a first day, and before that day, Allah was already there, preparing it. Before your parents met, your provision was written; before you drew breath, your Lord was your Lord. The heart that absorbs Al-Awwal stops treating its own story as self-started and reads its whole biography as hosted, from page one, in His prior kindness. Give Him your firsts, then: the first words of your morning, the first fruits of your income, the first attention of your heart when news arrives, good or bad. The One who preceded everything deserves precedence in everything, and a life ordered that way has found its true chronology.
Allāhumma anta-l-Awwalu fa-laysa qablaka shay', iqḍi ʿanna-d-dayna wa aghninā mina-l-faqr
O Allah, You are the First, so there is nothing before You. Settle our debt for us and enrich us from poverty.
- Sahih Muslim 2713
- Quran 57:3
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