Commentary On Kumayl Supplication

Commentary of: “Wa bia’smaa’ika’llati malat Arkana kully shay”

وَبِأَسْمَآئِكَ الَّتِى مَلَأَتْ أَرْكَانَ كُلِّ شَيٍْء

(I ask You) by Your Names, which have filled the foundations of all things.

The word “اسماء” (Names) in this divine phrase does not merely denote the lexical Names that are composed of series of letters; rather it is the attributes, facts and concepts, which these Names connote.

Allah’s Mercy, Knowledge, Justice, and Power are the basics for all things. In other words, all things are signs of Allah; the Creative, the Shaper, the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing, the Just, the Wise, the Merciful, and the Compassionate.

The creatures are created, continue existence, and obtain sustenance based on these facts and attributes of Allah. The lexical Names are therefore manifestations of the real Names. What are significant in the existence, identity, and repute of “all things” are the real Names not the lexical ones.

Anyhow, Allah’s real Names are mediators for the happening of actualities in this world. In the Sama’ supplication, narrated by an Infallible Imam, we read:

أَللّهُمَّ إِنّى أَسْأَلُكَ بِاسْمِكَ الْعَظيمِ الاَْعْظَمِ الاَْعَزِّ الاَْجَلِّ الاَْكْرَمِ الَّذى إِذا دُعيتَ بِهِ عَلى مَغالِقِ أَبْوابِ السَّمآءِ لِلْفَتْحِ بِالرَّحْمَةِ انْفَتَحَتْ، وَإِذا دُعيتَ بِهِ عَلى مَضآئِقِ أَبْوابِ الاَْرْضِ لِلْفَرَجِ انْفَرَجَتْ، وَإِذا دُعيتَ بِهِ عَلَى العُسْرِ لِلْيُسْرِ تَيَسَّرَتْ، وَإِذا دُعيتَ بِهِ عَلَى الاَْمْواتِ لِلنُّشُورِ انْتَشَرَتْ، وَإِذا دُعيتَ بِهِ عَلى كَشْفِ الْبَأسآءِ وَالضَّرّاءِ انْكَشَفَتْ…

O Allah! I ask You by Your Great Name, the most Powerful, the most Notable, the most Worthy, by which if You are called for opening the heavens’ doors, they are opened by Mercy; if You are called for opening the earthly doors, they are opened; if You are called by Your Name for relieving the troubles, they are relieved; if You are called by your Great name for the Resurrection of the dead, they are alive; and if You are called for removing poorness and anxiety, they are removed…

What materializes the needs, stated in this supplication, is not the mere Name that is consisted of the letters n, m, a, and e; rather the Name itself and its reality.

The attributes that are the basis for “all things” are the reality of the existing realities, which are called “Names” in the holy Qur’an and the traditions.

Among the manifestations of Allah’s Names is the Prophet’s Household and the Infallible Imams (as), who have special characteristics and are the mediators of Allah’s Mercy for people until Day of Resurrection. Allah’s Mercy, Guidance, Compassion and Forgiveness is granted to the people through the Imams (as) and the believers’ deeds are also accepted through them.

The great scholar, al-Faydh al-Kashani, in his valuable Qur’anic exegesis “Safi” has narrated Imam Sadiq (as):

نَحْنُ وَاللهِ الأسْمَاءُ الحُسْنَى الَّذِي لا يَقْبَلُ اللهُ مِنَ العِبَادِ عَمَلاً الاَّ بِمَعْرِفَتِنَا.

By Allah that we (the Prophet’s Household) are Allah’s Glorious Names; Allah accepts not a single deed from His servants except that they know us and appreciate our position.

As a result, concentrating to the lexis does not benefit the human or manifest a reality for him. We should go beyond the words and phrases to the realm of Reality, since everything apparent in the world is the sign of Allah’s real names and realities.

وَبالاسْمِ الَّذي خَلَقْتَ بِهِ العَرْشَ وَبالاسْمِ الَّذِي خَلَقْتَ بِهِ الكُرْسِيَّ وَبالاسْمِ الَّذِي خَلَقْتَ بِهِ الرُّوحَ…

By Your Name by which You created the Empyrean, by Your Name for which You created the throne, and by whose Blessings You fashioned the Soul.