Al-`Azhîm: The Magnificent

"...Allah is the Magnificent (Al-`Azhîm)" (2:105).

The word `magnificence' is usually applied to physical bodies. Thus one says, "This body is great" or "this body is greater than that body," if it is more extended in respect to length, width, and depth. The Magnificent is of two types: first, what fills the eye and draws its attention; and second, what sight cannot encompass due to the extent of an object's extremities.

It should be noted that there are also differences among objects of intellectual perception. Human intellect completely grasps the core of the real nature of some of them and falls short in the case of others. That which intellect falls short of grasping completely falls into two categories: first, that which some may conceivably grasp although the understanding of the majority falls short of it; and second, that concerning which the intellect cannot conceivably completely grasp the core of its real nature. This last one is the absolute Magnificent, the quality of which exceeds all the limits of human understanding and that is Allah.