The Profound Meaning of Al-Akhir, One of the 99 Names of God: The Essence of God's Eternity and Guidance for Practice

In Islamic teachings, knowing God through His 99 beautiful names, or Asmaul Husna, is a key to achieving inner peace. One of the names with profound spiritual dimensions is Al-Akhir (The Last).

The name Al-Akhir serves as a reminder to every human being that everything in this world has its limits, except for the Creator. Furthermore, see the article below.

Literally, Al-Akhir means ‘The Last’. However, in the context of divinity, its meaning transcends the order of time. Al-Akhir means that God remains and is eternal after all His creation perishes. The existence of God is not limited by the destruction of the universe.

Scholars explain that this attribute is paired with Al-Awwal. Al-Awwal indicates that God is the cause of all existence. Al-Akhir indicates that God is the ultimate goal of all goals.

The explicit mention of Al-Akhir can be found in Surah Al-Hadid, verse 3:

‘He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He knows all things.’

Hadith Evidence: The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prayed in his prostration, ‘O God, You are the First, there is nothing before You, and You are the Last, there is nothing after You…’ (Narrated by Muslim).

The best way is to always remember death (dhikr al-maut) and ensure that God is the only place we return to and seek help from.

The attribute of Al-Akhir teaches us about humility. In the presence of the Eternal Being, all human greatness will vanish. By making God the ultimate goal, a servant will never feel disappointed, because he relies on the Being who never dies. (I-2)

This article was processed and compiled by artificial intelligence (AI) and has gone through an editing and fact-checking process by the editorial team.