99 names of God

99 names of God, in Islam, 99 nouns or noun phrases that are used to address God and highlight a particular attribute of God. The names are separate from Allāh, the Arabic word that means “God” and the name that Muslims believe God called himself explicitly in the Qurʾān, the literal word of God. The tradition of God having 99 names comes from hadiths collected by al-Bukhārī and Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj that report Muhammad as saying, “God has 99 names, a hundred minus one, and he who enumerates them shall enter Paradise.” The specific 99 names, listed below, were compiled by al-Tirmidhī, another early collector of hadiths.

Most of the names come directly from passages in the Qurʾān that describe God:

To God belong the East and the West. Wherever you turn, you are facing God. For God is All-Encompassing [al-Wāsiʿ], All-Knowing [al-ʿAlīm]. (2:115)

He is God. There is no god except for him, the King [al-Malik], the Most Holy [al-Quddūs], the Source of Peace [al-Salām], the One Who Offers Safety [al-Muʾmin], the Guardian [al-Muhaymin], the Almighty [al-ʿAzīz], the All-Powerful [al-Jabbār], the Supreme [al-Mutakabbir]. Glory to God above those they wrongly worship beside him. (59:23)

The names include both titles—al-Malik (the King), al-Ḥakam (the Judge), and al-Wālī (the Governor)—and abstract concepts—al-Salām (Peace), al-ʿAdl (Justice), al-Ḥaqq (Truth), and al-ʿAfū (Forgiveness). Some of the names are descriptors that are commonly used to characterize people—al-ʿAzīz (Mighty), al-Laṭīf (Gentle), and al-Kabīr (Great)—and some take on such absolute meaning that the words are virtually only used to refer to God, such as the names al-Raḥmān (the Most Beneficent) and al-Qayyūm (the Self-Subsisting). The nuancing at times makes it difficult to render unique translations to near synonyms, such as al-Ghaffār and al-Ghafūr, both referring to someone who is generously forgiving, or al-Wāḥid and al-Aḥad, both words meaning “one.” The translation given by Islamic commentators for each name is often colored by the context and exegesis (tafsīr) that is associated with it. The 99 names are listed below in Arabic script and transliterated into Latin script, with a literal translation that is, when necessary, adjusted for context.