According to Dr Sharib:
"Al-Qayyum is the One Who exists by Himself and His permanent existence
does not depend on anyone. Nobody can exist without Him and He manages
the affairs of the people."
"To emulate the name you should not expect anything from the people, be
independent of all things, depend on Allah alone and observe fasting and
prayer."
Appropriate invocation can be useful in overcoming sleep, indolence, and
idleness.
Appropriate recitation along with Al-Hayy will save you from being drowned
during the course of crossing the sea or a river.
see 'The 99 Most Beautiful Names of Allah' by Dr Zahurul Hassan Sharib
Some other references:
Allah! There is no god
But He, the Living,
The Self-subsisting, Eternal,
No slumber can seize Him
Nor sleep. His are all things
In the heavens and on earth.
Who is there can intercede
In His presence except
As He permitts? He knows
What (appears to His creatures
As) Before or After
Or Behind them
Nor shall they compass aught of
His knowledge
Except as He wills
His throne doth extend
Over the heavens
And the earth, and He feels
No fatigue in guarding
And preserving them
For He is the Most High
The Supreme (in glory).
Allah! There is no god
But He, the Living,
The Self-subsisting, Eternal.
Al-Ghazali says that if there existed that, which was able to exist in such a way
that its existence depended on the existence of nothing else save itself, and if
everything else depended on that for its existence - then that would be the
self-existing one. But that can only be true of God.
Man's share in this is to be detached from all that is not God.
(Al-Ghazali - The Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God. Trans. Burrel/Daher: ITS: 1992.)
A form, such as a circle for example, is able to have material existence only by
dint of having material substance, for example the substance of ink on paper.
The substance (ink) does not depend on the circle (it can form any shape) but
is depended upon by the circle to become evident. In the case of the
substance of the ink, that substance depends on the materials that make it up.
A little reflection shows that dependency of one thing on another is the way of
things.
If to this, you answer that the circle can exist as an abstract concept without
the ink, then you are saying that the circle exists in the imagination. In this
case it depends on the non-physical substance of the imagination. The
formation of a circle in the imagination actually depends on its preexistence in
the unseen, and if it is in the unseen its existence there depends on the
substance of the unseen. It is possible to pursue this a stage further* but it is
probably better to say just this - only God alone is entirely without
dependence, and all else depends on Him.
JMZ
*NB. This does not imply that God is, so to speak at one end of chain of dependence, the
dependence of everything on Him is immediate without the necessity of intermediary links -
as pointed out by Shah Wali Ullah in 'The Sacred Knowledge'.
"Al-Qayyum is the One Who exists by Himself and His permanent existence
does not depend on anyone. Nobody can exist without Him and He manages
the affairs of the people."
"To emulate the name you should not expect anything from the people, be
independent of all things, depend on Allah alone and observe fasting and
prayer."
Appropriate invocation can be useful in overcoming sleep, indolence, and
idleness.
Appropriate recitation along with Al-Hayy will save you from being drowned
during the course of crossing the sea or a river.
see 'The 99 Most Beautiful Names of Allah' by Dr Zahurul Hassan Sharib
Some other references:
Allah! There is no god
But He, the Living,
The Self-subsisting, Eternal,
No slumber can seize Him
Nor sleep. His are all things
In the heavens and on earth.
Who is there can intercede
In His presence except
As He permitts? He knows
What (appears to His creatures
As) Before or After
Or Behind them
Nor shall they compass aught of
His knowledge
Except as He wills
His throne doth extend
Over the heavens
And the earth, and He feels
No fatigue in guarding
And preserving them
For He is the Most High
The Supreme (in glory).
Allah! There is no god
But He, the Living,
The Self-subsisting, Eternal.
Al-Ghazali says that if there existed that, which was able to exist in such a way
that its existence depended on the existence of nothing else save itself, and if
everything else depended on that for its existence - then that would be the
self-existing one. But that can only be true of God.
Man's share in this is to be detached from all that is not God.
(Al-Ghazali - The Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of God. Trans. Burrel/Daher: ITS: 1992.)
A form, such as a circle for example, is able to have material existence only by
dint of having material substance, for example the substance of ink on paper.
The substance (ink) does not depend on the circle (it can form any shape) but
is depended upon by the circle to become evident. In the case of the
substance of the ink, that substance depends on the materials that make it up.
A little reflection shows that dependency of one thing on another is the way of
things.
If to this, you answer that the circle can exist as an abstract concept without
the ink, then you are saying that the circle exists in the imagination. In this
case it depends on the non-physical substance of the imagination. The
formation of a circle in the imagination actually depends on its preexistence in
the unseen, and if it is in the unseen its existence there depends on the
substance of the unseen. It is possible to pursue this a stage further* but it is
probably better to say just this - only God alone is entirely without
dependence, and all else depends on Him.
JMZ
*NB. This does not imply that God is, so to speak at one end of chain of dependence, the
dependence of everything on Him is immediate without the necessity of intermediary links -
as pointed out by Shah Wali Ullah in 'The Sacred Knowledge'.
| Bismillah ir Rehman ir Rahim |
| The Self-Subsisting The Everlasting, The Self Existing |
'allaahu laaa ilaaha 'illaa-Huu.
'al-Hayyul-Qayyuum. Laa ta' -
khuzuhuu sinatunw-wa laa nawm.
Lahuu maa fissamaawaati wa ma fil
'arz. Man-zallazii yashfa-'u 'indahuuu
illaa bi-'iznih? Ya'-lamu maa bayna
'aydiihim wa maa khalfahum. Wa laa
yu-hiituuna bi-shay -'im-min 'ilmihiii
'illaa bimaa shaaa'. Wasi-'a
Kursiyyu-hus-Samaawaati wal-'arz;
wa laa ya-'uudu-huu hifzu-humaa wa
Huwal-'Aliyyul -'aziim.
(Qur'an 2:255 trans. Y. Ali)
'al-Hayyul-Qayyuum. Laa ta' -
khuzuhuu sinatunw-wa laa nawm.
Lahuu maa fissamaawaati wa ma fil
'arz. Man-zallazii yashfa-'u 'indahuuu
illaa bi-'iznih? Ya'-lamu maa bayna
'aydiihim wa maa khalfahum. Wa laa
yu-hiituuna bi-shay -'im-min 'ilmihiii
'illaa bimaa shaaa'. Wasi-'a
Kursiyyu-hus-Samaawaati wal-'arz;
wa laa ya-'uudu-huu hifzu-humaa wa
Huwal-'Aliyyul -'aziim.
(Qur'an 2:255 trans. Y. Ali)
| Al-Qayyum (Al-Qayyoom) Qur'an 3:2 |
'allaahu laaa ilaaha
'illaa-Huwal-Hayyul-
Qayyuum.
(Qur'an 3:2 trans: Y. Ali)
'illaa-Huwal-Hayyul-
Qayyuum.
(Qur'an 3:2 trans: Y. Ali)