Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Manifestations of the All-Merciful Surely You Are All-Powerful Over Everything إِنَّكَ عَلَى كَلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيْرٍ Al-Qadīr is one of the most beautiful names ( al-Asmā’ al-Husnā ) of Almighty Allāh. Theologians ( mutakallimūn ) define it as: ...هُوَ الْفَاعِلُ لِمَا يَشَآءُ عَلى قَدْرِ مَا تَقْتَضِي الْحِكْمَةُ لاَ زَائِداً عَلَيْهِ وَلا ناَقِصاً عَنْهُ...
“…One who does whatever He wants according to Wisdom, nothing more or less than that…”[^1] And the form ( wazn ) of the word “ Qadīr ” which is fa‘īl فعيل denotes permanence. Therefore, He is permanently Able and Powerful. Not only is He Powerful, but he is the Powerful, such that none other than He has any kind of independent power. If any power is found with anyone it is by the permission of Allāh.
No one can claim to have a power ‘other than His Power.’ Every conceivable power exists and subsists by His Power. The following dictum, which appears in a number of supplications, refers to this very subtle issue: لاَ حَوْلَ وَلاَ قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ باللٌّهِ.
“There is no strength or power save by Allāh.”[^2] The Holy Qur’ān, emphasizing the fact that every kind of power belongs to Allāh, says: وَلَوْ يَرَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا إِذْ يَرَوْنَ الْعَذَابَ أَنَّ الْقُوَّةَ لِلٌّهِ جَمِيعًا وَأَنَّ اللٌّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعَذَابِ “…though the wrongdoers will see, when they sight the punishment, that power, altogether, belongs to God, and that God is severe in punishment…” [^3] Realizing this, we conclude that only He can fulfill all our aforementioned requests.
It is therefore important to seek His assistance solely. In saying ‘ Innaka ‘alā kulli shay’in Qadīr ’ we mean ’since You are All-Powerful, we ask all the aforementioned needs from You.’ If we ponder over the Holy Qur’ān we find that many of the verses are concluded with Names of Almighty Allāh. Exegetes say that in order to understand such verses properly, we should try to reflect on these Divine Names, for they form the reason behind the verses.
For example in verse 1 of chapter al-Fātir we read: أَلْحَمْدُ لِلٌّهِ فَــاطِرِ السَّمٌوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ جَاعِلِ الْمَلاَئِكَةِ رُسُلاً أُولِي أَجْنِحَةٍ مَثْنَى وَثُلاَثَ وَرُبَاعَ يَزِيدُ فِي الْخَلْقِ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّ اللٌّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ “All praise belongs to God, originator of the heavens and the earth, maker of the Angels [His] messengers, possessing wings, two, three or four [of them]. He adds to the creation whatever He wishes.