A Commentary on the phrase Anta ar-Rabbu al-Adhim

أَنْتَ الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

You are the Tremendous Lord

فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ

“So celebrate the name of your Lord, the Tremendous” (56:74; 56:96).

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أَنْتَ الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

You are the Tremendous Lord

The definite article al that precedes the predicate Rabb in the sentence above signifies that the predicate (khabar) is exclusively for the subject (mubtada’). In simple words, by saying ‘Anta ar-Rabb al-Adhim we are trying to say that ‘You alone are the Tremendous Lord’.

أَنْتَ الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

You are the Tremendous Lord

This verse reveals two important things:

(1) Allah is the Rabb, which lexically is defined as al-Malik al-Mudabbir (the Owner and the Manager)1. And since Allah is proven to be the Creator (al-Khaliq) of everything2; only He can be their Rabb. This is because only a creator can existentially own and manage his creation, for the real meaning of creation is the continual bestowal of the grace of existence. Contrary to the view of a misled group of deviant human beings who conjectured that a created entity can subsist without its creator, every created entity is actually created every moment anew, and hence is always and perpetually in need of its creator. The example of continual creation cited by the Qur’an is worthy of mention here:

وَتَرَى الْجِبَالَ تَحْسَبُهَا جَامِدَةً وَهِيَ تَمُرُّ مَرَّ السَّحَابِ

“And you see the mountains, which you suppose to be stationary, while they drift like passing clouds...” (27:88).

(2) He is ar-Rabb al-Adhim (the Tremendous Lord). It must be noted that His tremendousness has no limits and bounds. Hence He is the Most Tremendous. In the well-known supplication of al-Jawshan al-Kabir we say:

يَا أَعْظَمَ مِنْ كُلِّ عَظِيمٍ

O More Tremendous than every tremendous one.

الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

The Tremendous Lord

Perhaps the reason why ar-Rabb was qualified with the adjective al-Adhim was to express the fact that Allah’s Rububiyyah (Lordship) covers everything. The Holy Qur’an says:

Holy Qur'an says:

 وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ

“... His sovereignty extends the heavens and the earth...” (2:255).

The phrase ‘ as-Samawat wa al-ard’ actually alludes to the entire realm of creation.

الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

The Tremendous Lord

Some lexicographers like al-Isfahani have translated the word “rabb” to mean trainer. In his well-known Qur’anic lexicon called Mufradat Alfaz al-Qur’an, he says:

الرَّبُّ في الأصل: التربية، وهو إنشاء الشيء حالا فحالا إلى حد التمام

The origin of ar-Rabb is al-tarbiyah and that is to bring about something in gradual states until its level of completion3.

Another reason why ar-Rabb is qualified with the adjective al-‘Adhim can be to reveal the fact that He is a Lord who trains to make people ‘adhim and great. In other words, all His laws and commandments are for rendering the human being great and honourable.

أَنْتَ الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

You are the Tremendous Lord

This is a confession on the part of the supplicant, and a confession follows knowledge. The insightful scholars not only mentally and conceptually understand that He alone is the Tremendous Lord, they actually behold and vision the same. The fundamental purpose of creation is to know the Lord (ma‘rifat ar-Rabb). This can be established by the following verse of the Holy Qur’an:

اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الْأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ لِتَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا

“It is Allah who has created seven heavens, and of the earth [a number] similar to them. The command gradually descends through them, that you may know that Allah has power over all things, and that Allah comprehends all things in knowledge” (65:12).

This verse clearly informs us that the purpose of creating the heavens and the earth is to realise the absolute knowledge and power of Allah, which actually alludes to divine lordship. Only the absolutely knowledgeable and powerful creates, owns and controls every being. Therefore, human struggle too should be aimed at the knowledge of divine lordship. And the fundamental key towards the knowledge of divine lordship is self-knowledge.

Consider the following noteworthy traditions:

a) The Holy Prophet (S) is reported to have said:

أَعْرَفُكُمْ بِنَفْسِهِ أَعْرَفُكُمْ بِرَبِّهِ

The most knowledgeable about himself from among you, has the most knowledge of his Lord4.

b) The Holy Prophet (S) is reported to have said:

من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه

Whosoever comes to know himself, has known his Lord5.

This hadith alludes to an important subtlety: one who struggles to know oneself will only achieve his ambition after having known his Lord. In other words, self-knowledge is only realised through the knowledge of the Lord.

c) Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is reported to have said:

أَطْلُبُوا الْعِلْمَ وَلَوْ بِالصَّيْنِ، وَهُوَ عِلْمُ مَعْرِفَةِ النَّفْسِ وَفِيْهِ مَعْرِفَةُ الرَّبِّ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ

Seek knowledge even in China, and that is the knowledge of the gnosis of the self; and in it is the gnosis of the Lord, the Invincible and Majestic6.

d) Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is reported to have said:

غَايَةُ الْمَعْرِفَةِ أَنْ يَعْرِفَ الْمَرْءُ نَفْسَهُ

The ultimate recognition is man’s recognition of his soul7.

e) Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is reported to have said:

عَجِبْتُ لِمَنْ يَجْهَلُ نَفْسَهُ كَيْفَ يَعْرِفُ رَبَّهُ

I wonder how a person who does not know himself, could know his Lord8.

f) Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is reported to have said:

مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ تَجَرَّدَ

Whosoever comes to recognise himself will attain freedom9.

g) Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) is reported to have said:

مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ جَلَّ أَمْرُهُ

He who recognises his soul, his position will become great10.

It is imperative to know that these traditions are not merely speaking of conceptual knowledge. The fundamental kind of knowledge is knowledge by presence and intuition. And there is an ontological and existential link between the knowledge of one’s self and the knowledge of the Lord. This reality can also be understood by looking at the verse of mithaq (divine oath) as follows:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَا ۛ أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَٰذَا غَافِلِينَ

“When your Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their descendants and made them witness themselves, [He said to them,] ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes indeed! We bear witness.’ [This,] lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were unaware of this.’” (7:172).

In this divine oath taken by Allah in the higher realm the descendants of Adam are made to witness themselves (ashhadahum ‘aid anfusihim) and are asked whether Allah is their Lord. This reveals that there is a close link between the vision of the self and the vision of the Lord. Otherwise, Allah may have said ‘wa ashhadahum ‘aid Rabbihim (and made them witness their Lord)’. Observe how the expression ‘and made them witness themselves’ is followed immediately by the expression ‘Am I not your Lord’, which subtly alludes to the connection between the knowledge of oneself and the knowledge of one’s Lord. The philosophers reckon such a link to be ontological and existential.

Alluding to this subtlety, martyr Murtada Mutahhari in one of his speeches says:

اینقدر خدا با بشر نزدیک است اینقدر خودشناسی و خداشناسی با یکدیگر آمیخته است میگوید بشرا خودت را ببین تا خودش را می بیند می گوید آیا من پروردگار تو نیستم؟ تو خودت را ببینی مرا دیده ای خودت را بشناسی مرا شناخته ای جمله من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه هر کس

خودش را بشناسد خدا را شناخته است.... امیر المؤمنین از این تعبیرات زیاد در کلماتش هست در کلمات پیغمبر اکرم (ص) نیز هست ولی به این زیبایی که در این آیه قرآن آمده احدی بیان نکرده است با آن لسان رمز آمیز قرآن بشر را به بشر ارائه داد و گفت خودت را ببین تا خودش را دید گفت مرا خوب می بینی؟ گفت: آری می بینم؛ نمی گوید من عرف نفسه فقد عرف ربه، دو تا معرفت ردیف نمی کند معرفت . خودت تا بعد از آن منتقل بشوی به معرفت خدا اینقدر این دو معرفت به هم نزدیک است که اگر این را ببینی آن را دیده ای تو را خوب

God is extremely close to human beings; the knowledge of the self and knowledge of the Lord are extremely fused with one other. God says: Mankind!

Look at yourself, and the moment he sees himself, God says: Am I not your Lord? If you see yourself, it is as if you have seen Me. If you have known yourself, you have known Me: Man ‘arafa nafsahu faqad ‘arafa Rabbahu (whosoever comes to know himself, has already known his Lord) ...

We find many such expressions in the words of Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) and we also find them in the words of the Holy Prophet (S). However, no one has expressed it in such a beautiful way as in this verse (7:172) of the Qur’an. It does not say ‘Whosoever comes to know himself, has already known his Lord’; it does not bring two kinds of knowledge side by side... these two are so close to each other that if you see this, you have already seen that11.

Hence, if we truly would like to bear witness and declare that only Allah is ar-Rabb al-‘Adhim, we must have knowledge about the same. And such knowledge must not be limited to conceptual knowledge which is the beginning of the path, but presential knowledge which is attained through self-struggle and self-purification. When one attains this, true and quality declaration can be realised.

أَنْتَ الرَّبُّ الْعَظِيمُ

You are the Tremendous Lord

In the language of religion, expression is not a mere vocalisation. It rather reveals the reality of the state of the one who expresses. When one says, for example, ‘You are the Tremendous Lord’ one actually is a submissive servant, otherwise expression makes no sense. Declaring Allah’s Lordship therefore must not be a mere vocalisation and devoid of any practical representation. We noted earlier that ar-Rabb is also reckoned to have been derived from al-tarbiyah (training). If we declare that Allah is our Rabb, we must follow whatever He says, for every command of His is for our training, development and perfection.

The Holy Qur’an speaks about a group of people who say ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and enumerates some beautiful spiritual states for them. One cannot say that mere vocalisation and verbal expression of ‘Our Lord is Allah’ has made them achieve all that. It is rather their true belief in the Lordship of Allah and their respective actions that has made them enjoy the beautiful states.

Consider the following verses of the Qur’an:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ

“Indeed, those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah!’ and then remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, [saying,] ‘Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the Garden of Heaven which you have been promised.’” (41:30).

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

“Indeed, those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and then remain steadfast, they will have no fear, nor will they grieve” (46:13).

In short, declaration is only correct when one truly considers Allah as one’s Lord, and that is when one obeys the commands of Allah and accepts His training.

• 1. Ibn Faris, Mu jam Maqayis al-Lughah, v. 2, p. 381; Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-‘Arab, v. 1, p. 399; Ibn Durayd, Jumhurat al-Lughah, v. 1, p. 67; Al-Azhari, Tahdhib al-Lughah, v. 15, p. 128; Ibn Athir, an-nihayah ft Gharib al-Hadith wa al-Athar, v. 2, p. 179.
• 2. Refer to the Holy Qur’an 6:102.
• 3. Al-Isfahani, Mufradatu Alfaz al-Qur’an, v. 1, p. 336.
• 4. An-Nisaburi, Rawdat al-Wa‘izin, p. 20.
• 5. Al-Ihsa’i, Awali al-La’ali, v. 4, p. 102.
• 6. ‘Allamah Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar. v. 2, p. 32.
• 7. Al-Wasiti, ‘Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawaiz, p. 348.
• 8. Al-Wasiti, ‘Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawaiz, p. 329.
• 9. Al-Wasiti, ‘Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawaiz, p. 452.
• 10. Al-Amadi, Tasnif Ghurar al-Hikam wa Durar al-Kalim, p. 232.
• 11. Martyr Murtada Mutahhari, Majmu‘e-ye Athar-e Shahid Mutahhari (A Collection of the Works of Martyr Mutahhari), v. 13, pp. 353-354.