More explanations from Sherif Baba on the Esma el-Husna

Al-Fettah: The Opener

Allah Fettah Allah Hu.
The esma, the Name or attribute of Fettah means to open. In both the spiritual and the material world of a person Allah will surely open everything. We are going to do the tefekkur, the contemplative meditation, of this and insh'Allah, with Allah's permission, I am going to open on the subject of this esma.
The honored Name of Fettah, the Opening, in the Dictionary of the Quran, comes from the root fetih and Fettah is its attribute. It comes from opening and it means the Opener. Opening implies many different meanings. For example, there is opening a box, there is opening a closed door, opening anything that is closed. But the meaning of opening in the Quran is the opening of the heart, the opening of the thoughts and the opening of spiritual goodness and beauty. So the esma of Fettah is announcing this opening. And the meaning in Tasawwuf, in Sufism, is the opening of ilmi ledun, the mystical knowledge in the heart, and to bring it out into the open and to reflect this into daily life. This is the opening of the esma of Fettah amoung people.
This attribute of Allah is working on all of the people of this world. If you know this or you do not know it, this attribute is working inside of you. If we look around us, Allah has opened everything and from every place that he has opened He is showing this beauty and goodness to us. He has hidden nothing from us. He has opened it for us; we have hidden it. And how did we hide it? With the negativity of our thoughts we have hidden this. So if we continue on this esma of Fettah of Allah, if we do the zikr, the remembrance, and the tefekkur, the meditation, of this, then these beauties that Allah has opened for us will open inside of us and we will see this, too.
Now, for example, we are born, we grow up, we have come until these days. Allah has opened countless doors for us. He has opened our rizk, our sustenance, put all of the goodness out into the open and we are living inside of this, that which He has opened for us. If we think of it, we are going to live this whether we are aware of it or not. The only difference is in seeing how these esmas are working and to work with this in mind so we can be close to Allah with these attributes. If Allah had not opened these beautiful doors for us, we would not have been able to come to these beautiful places today. We did not come to these beautiful places with our minds. Allah has opened these beautiful doors for us through the doors of knowledge in our hearts; He has given us Nur, Divine Light, and keeping this in mind we have lived it in our lives and we have come to these places.
So this is the opening of the esma of Fettah. I am giving these examples so that you can realize that the esma of Fettah is working in us every minute of our lives. If we come to the awareness of this, there is a moment inside of this esma when we can catch that moment, and then we have come to the most holiest of moments of Allah. Allah will create with beauty everything that we wish and give it to us. Another meaning of fetih is to give victory to the people. And where is this victory given to us? When we do the accounting of our nefs, our soul or ego self, when we come out of the badness of our nefs, when we start working towards beauty and goodness, with the help of this esma of Fettah more beautiful doors are opened for us and we become victorious over our nefs.
The Sura al-Fatiha in the Quran has manifested from this esma of Fettah. It has opened. And what has opened? The Sura al-Fatiha has seven ayets, seven verses; it shows the seven makams, seven levels. The Sura al-Fatiha shows the opening of the seven makams of the human being and because this is from the esma of Fettah they have called this Fatiha. It is the sura of salvation. If we recite it often, we will attain the beauty of our nefs. For example, every day we should recite it seven times. We should recite it for ourselves; we should recite it for the spirits of the great ones who came before us. As we recite for their spirits, for their ruhs, beautiful energy will come to us and with the hlpe of this energy our nefs will start to rise from day to day. That is why Sura al-Fatiha comes at the beginning of the Quran. It is not inside of the Quran; it is at the beginning of the Quran, because the Sura al-Fatiha was sent as a present to the Prophet. As we recite this often, then the grudges in us will start to leave, the badness will leave, and peace will begin amound people, love will begin. Then both will the person himself be saved and so will humanity be saved. Then victory will come for humanity. This is how the esma of Fettah is working in the world.
Know, learn this, memorize this esma of Fettah very well and when stress comes to your heart recite the esma of Fettah. Say Allah Fettah, Allah Hu so that with the offering of Allah, with the kudret, power, of Allah, doors will open. The only One Who is saving us from this difficulty, the One Who opens these beautiful doors, is Allah. If we take refuge in Him with this esma of Fettah, He will save us in the most difficult of days and will allow us ease in our lives.
Allah Fettah Allah Hu.


Al-Mu'izz: The Bestower of Honor


Allah Mu'izz Allah Hu.
The esma of Mu'izz is an attribute that comes from the root word "IZ". "IZ" has the meaning of exaltedness and dignity. It is the attribute of Allah that gives pride and dignity to all of His creations. When Allah created His servants, He created them with this beauty and goodness, and in order that they did not lose the beauty and goodness he sent them knowledge, and through these attributes he has allowed this beauty and goodness to be known. And one of these attributes is His attribute of Mu'izz. If we live our life beautifully, if we pass our days in the way Allah wishes us to, every day he will honor us anew.

Every thing that Allah has created, he has created as service to us. He has not denied us any joy or pleasure. With every joy, with every pleasure, we will gain our dignification, our honor. But there are ways in which to do this. There are rules. When we follow these rules we will gain our dignity. Then , our honor will increase in the eyes of Allah. We will find beauty and goodness. When we find this beauty and goodness, we will serve the people through goodness and beauty. If we live the opposite of this... the opposite of this is arrogance. People sometimes compare arrogance with pride. The dignity and pride that Allah gives, is the dignity and pride that you find in the beauty and goodness that you attain through living the way that Allah wishes you to live. Then you will know your nafs, your soul, you will know and recognize people. You will know and recognize life, and you will always go after that which is good and beautiful. If you live the opposite of this, then you have arrogance. You think that you know yourself, look down on people, and think that you do everything yourself. Because this comes completely from the ego nafs, this is not dignity. This is arrogance. Then the doors of jahannem, of hell, are opened. What is hell? Your own loss of inner peace, loss of huzur, it's your own fire inside yourself. So we have to distinguish between dignity and pride.

The esma of Mu'izz is the esma that is given to you within the beauty and goodness. Inside of it there is sincerity, there is humbleness. There is service to people. Then your character will be exalted, and you will find the izet, the dignity, and they will call you arif, one who knows. You will be a possessor of irfan, of enlightenment from experiential knowledge. You will live with hikmet, with wisdom. And you will speak with hikmet, and so many great doors will open for you. If we live the opposite of this, if we come in front of Allah and his prophets in the opposite way, then our nafs will rage. We will become zalim, tyrants, and we will become arrogant, and we will think this to be exaltedness, dignity; like, for example, what the Pharoah did to Musa, Moses. Musa had izet, he had dignity. He was in service with the beauty of Allah. He was testimony to his own character's exaltedness. The Pharoah said, I have this too. With his ego he made arrogance, and proved the opposite of it. That arrogance made him one of the zalim, of the tyrants. It was the same between Ebu Jehil and Hazret-i-Muhammad . In Muhammad, there was izet, there was dignity, and with his own honor he was bestowing honor on those around him. He was bringing people to service, and he was connecting people to one another with sincerity and faithfulness. Whereas Ebu Jehil was doing the opposite. He was a man of knowledge. He saw himself as better and in arrogance said, I know better. He said, I can rule over people in a better way. Just like the Pharoah he became one of the oppressors.

Allah has given us these examples in the Koran, so that we, people, can find the correct path, and live with that great dignity. And not become arrogant. This is from the attribute of Mu'izz. As this opens within people, the people can come to a great many secrets.

Allah Mu'izz Allah Hu
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Al-Mudhill: The Humiliator
Allah Mudhill Allah Hu.
The esma of Mudhill is the esma that shows that Allah is the degrader of those It has created.
The esma of Mudhill is the esma that will degrade and humiliate those who Allah has created when Allah wishes it. Last week we explained the esma of Mu'izz. These are esmas that are opposites of each other. Mu'izz was the esma that gave honor and elevated the servant, the esma that allowed one to attain an elevation in their character, and the esma of Mudhill is the opposite. We have studied the esma of Khafid, the Abaser, before; this one resembles that one. These are esmas that are used by Allah to train Its servants. Through using Its ability the Creator brings people to balance with this esma, with this name. If we live this beauty and goodness, if we are in beautiful service to people, if we are correct and faithful, if we are sincere and serious, then It will exalt us, and It will make us honored ones. If you are not able to do this, if you think badly of people, if you work badly, if you are always trying to fool people with lies, then It will degrade you, and leave you as a characterless abased one. If we live the rules the that the Creator has brought us in a beautiful way - and you know that which comes at the head of these: justice, compassion, generosity, service, submission, and ashk, through respect for human beings - when you live with this beauty, then you will be one who is honored, and find your exaltedness. But if you are not able to live with justice, if you have no compassion, if you are one who harbors bad thoughts about people, if you do not help people and are stingy, if instead of humbleness you display arrogance - in other words, if you have all these bad, or ugly, attributes - then It will abase you. Because there is the ayat, the verse, the words of Allah in the Koran, "We have created the human being with beautiful ahlak, morality, but he has fallen to the lowest of the low, of his own accord." Now, what does this mean, "of his own accord, through his own desires"? Instead of living according to the rules and wishes of the Creator, when he lives in a corrupt manner amoung people, then he brings his nafs, his soul, into the lowest level, and fools himself into [ed. deceives himself with] the finite pleasures of this finite world, lives forgetting the beauty and goodness of the Creator, then he will encounter the esma of Mudhill, and fall into abasement.
May Allah make us beautiful human beings.
May It allow us to live this beauty always, so that we can be like the beautiful people, honored ones. ________________________________________________________________________
Al-Hafiz: The Preserver

Allah Hafiz Allah Hu.
Insha’Allah, we are going to say “Allah Hafiz Allah Hu,” and curl the tongue against the roof of the mouth, bend the head over the heart and then go into tefekkür, contemplative meditation. Then afterwards I will try to open up the meaning of this esma, this attribute. Allah Hafiz Allah Hu.

The esma of Hafiz is one of the Creator Allah’s attributes of preserving, keeping and protecting His creation. He is the One who knows to the most delicate, finest point everything that He has created, and He keeps it and protects it. I am going to try to open this up to you with examples. What is it to preserve? What is it to protect? They are all inside this honored name of Hafiz.

Look at the sky that Allah has created. How many things are turning within that emptiness of space? None of them crash with each other; all of them turn within their own boundaries. None of them cross over their own boundaries and into the boundaries of the others. These are preserved with the Hafiz attribute of Allah, and then He protects them. And how is He protecting them? By making them do the duty that He has given them. If He does not protect, then they will not be able to do their duty, and they will be lost.

We look at people. They memorize a book. For example, they memorize the Quran, and we call those people hafiz. Such a person can keep in his memory the 6,666 ayets, and because he keeps it with the esma of Hafiz, this person is called a hafiz.

A second meaning of Hafiz is to protect. So a person preserves this in his memory; how does he protect it? His protection is to know the knowledge that is inside of this and to live it. Then he will have both preserved it and, by living this knowledge, protected it. It is then that that person can be given the name of hafiz. This is the Hafiz that Allah is asking for; meaning to protect the commands that Allah has sent, to live them and allow them to be lived. If this does not happen, then he will just be a person who memorizes dryly.
Harun al-Rashid, one of the Abbasid halifes who lived a thousand years ago, had a parrot. It was a very smart parrot. He made the parrot memorize Ya Sin-i Sherif, which is six pages, and this parrot could recite it. This is also preservation. He memorized, but he was not able to be a hafiz. Why? Because he is an animal in his creation. He does not know what he recites, does not know what he’s living. So this means that to be a hafiz is not just through preservation, but by living the meaning as well.

Now, insha’Allah, we have understood the difference between preservation and protection. For example, you gather fruit and you make a preserve, a jelly. So that the goodness is not lost, you preserve it. With what? You put elements into it to preserve it so that its taste does not become corrupted, and it maintains its life there. But you have to protect it. How are you going to protect it? You put it in a jar and close its lid so that air does not come in and there you have put it under protection.

Look, Allah created us, and He has taken us under His protection with such a use of the Hafiz attribute. He has put the most valuable part of you, your brain, into a box that is strong and does not break. Look under what protection He is putting it. He has given you a heart and lungs, and put these in such a box that when something bumps up against it, or when you fall, an elastic cage that does not break protects it. These are all the characteristics of the esma of Hafiz. The most valuable artery that comes from your heart doesn’t go in an open and surface place. It is stuck to your bones so that it does not become damaged in an accident. It is kept protected. How is it protected? The muscles which surround it protect it completely, so that it doesn’t get damaged in a trauma or accident.
This is the kind of Hafiz that Allah is. He is protecting us better than we protect ourselves. So how are we to protect ourselves? There are prescriptions that He has sent to us. Which ones are beneficial to us? Which things are harmful to us? We have to know these, and we have to protect ourselves with them. For example, Allah created bread and made it halal, lawful, for us to consume. We eat it, we take our nourishment, we take our vitamins from it. Now you can toast this bread, but if it burns and turns to coal then all of its vitamins are lost. This bread that was halal becomes haram, unlawful, to us. Then He says, “Don’t eat it.” Why? Because there is no nourishment in this. It will poison you. And He allows you to know this through your instincts. It is in such a way that you can protect yourself.

This is an example from the material world, and if we give an example from the spiritual, He has given you a ruh, spirit. He has given you a trust. How are you going to protect this? With worship. With zikrs. With sincerity. With service to human beings. You are then going to place yourself under material and spiritual protection. In Tasawwuf, Sufism, the actual Hafiz is the title given to someone who puts his iman, faith, and his behavior under protection. You are to take no suspicion and you are to carry no duality so that you can put yourself under protection. If you carry duality, then your protection will be corrupted, and this negative energy that we call Shaitan, Satan, will come into you. That is why we should do our worship with sincerity, not as a show. Let the zikrs that we perform carry meaning. Let them give joy to your heart. Let them give you huzur, peace and tranquillity. Let them increase the ashk, the endless love, that you have for Allah. Then through the angels that Allah has created you will be put under protection. And what are those angels that take you into protection? I spoke of this the other night. They are the goodness and beauty that is in your thoughts. These thoughts will rule the molecules that are in your body. Then these molecules do the job that it is their duty to do, and protect you in your life.
Allah created everything with the order “Be.” He sent you to this universe with love, and He is allowing you to live through His love. And so that you do not lose His love, He has opened some doors of examination, of tests for you, and for you to pass one test He has sent you prescriptions through the prophets. What are they? They are the Divine Books. The Torah, the Gospel, the Quran, the Psalms of David. And through the prophets these were allowed to be known, and this trail is continuing still today. If we lose this trail, then we will come out of protection, in the same way that if you eat the things that are unlawful to you, you will poison yourself, and you will be out of protection. Then what will you do? You’ll send yourself to your grave. In the same way that you are protecting your body through your instincts, you also have to keep the spiritual trust that Allah has given you under protection.

You know that this one of the 99 esmas, the esma of Hafiz, is working in this way in people. Every esma works in the human being. Allah has given these 99 esmas to the human being. In the Quran this is verified with ayets. It says, “We have given all of the esma to Adem, son of man.” That’s why every week we try to explain one of them. Let us know these; let us learn these and try to live. Let us come to awareness. May Allah help us, and not separate us from the goodness and beauty.
Allah Hafiz Allah Hu.

Al-Mukit: The Nourisher

Allah Mukit, Allah Hu. The esma of Mukit is one of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah. It is the esma that shows that Allah gives everything that It has created their rizk, their sustenance, and nourishes them. Insha’Allah, now we're going to do the teffekür, the contemplative meditation, of this esma, and after the teffekür we'll try to expand it. Say it again; Allah Mukit, Allah Hu.
The esma of Mukit is the attribute of Allah giving nourishment to all that It has created, and sustaining it. It comes from the root ikata. Ikata means one who dispenses food. I will give an example from the world. There were the ashanes, soup kitchens, to help people, and from there, food and rizk, sustenance would be dispersed, and the person who was doing the dispersing would be called the mukit.
Allah, who is the Creator, sustains with nourishment all that It has created. This comes from inside the attribute of Rezzak, the Sustainer. They resemble each other, Rezzak and Mukit; it is a division that comes forth from Rezzak. Before we spoke of the esma of Rezzak. Rezzak has a very wide, encompassing meaning, whereas Mukit means the one that sustains through nourishment. And this has been determined according to the length of one's life.
Nobody can take from another’s nourishment. And nobody can leave without having completed their nourishment. Everyone will get, and when they finish it, they will die. That's why nourishment is determined. Rizk, having a wide encompassing meaning, covers everything. For example, the breath that you take is connected to rizk. That also nourishes you, but not physically; it nourishes you in a spiritual way. The knowledge that you gain from what you see and what you learn is also your rizk, it is also your nourishment, but it is not Mukit, it is rizk. For example, we go and travel around, this going and traveling is also from Allah's rizk. Because rizk and Mukit resemble each other, I'm giving you these examples so that we can understand the differences.
The Creator Allah is nourishing everything that It has created, be it plants or animals. For example, the child that is in its mother's womb is being nourished through the umbilical cord that is connecting it to the nourishment that its mother is taking in. The seed that you plant in the earth is being nourished through the minerals and the vitamins that are in the earth. This nourishing is Mukit.
Because the evliyas, the Friends of Allah, know this attribute of Mukit very well, they look at the being of a person and then they give the spiritual nourishment, the spiritual rizk, accordingly. Some people, for example, have short lives, and they need to take nourishment quickly. Some have long lives, and they need to take their nourishment in time. With the attribute of Mukit, Allah sets this firmly, and It allows the servants, the evliyas, to know this.
I'll give you an example. One of the arifs, a gnostic individual, had a son. He would go to the bars all the time, to the taverns, and drink, secret from his father. His father found out about this, but didn't say anything to him. He went and found the tavern keeper and told him secretly, “However much my son is going to drink here, give him more. However much he wants, give him even more, and don't tell him that I came.” Time passed, and if the child asked for one, he got two, if he asked for two, he got four, and in this way, he completed the nourishment that he was going to get there. This is an appearance of the attribute of Mukit.
In other words, maybe he was going to go there for four years, and drink four thousand glasses, but because that arif knew of his Mukit esma, he had him given this nourishment in much more quantity so that four years became shortened. When his nourishment there was finished, the boy did not go back to the tavern, and did not fall back into those bad ways, and repenting, went and followed his father's path. I gave you this example so that the attribute of Mukit could be better understood.
All of our rizk, our nourishment and sustenance, is predetermined. No matter where we are, we will find it. We cannot chase it, it will chase us. No matter how much extra action you perform, no matter how much more you work, your nourishment is known. If it is two grams, it is two grams. With your working extra hard it won't become four. So what is the duty that befalls us here? To show acceptance and satisfaction for what is given by Allah, and to have tevekkül, trust, in Allah. And here we have to allow our surrender, our submission, to be known.
We know that these ninety-nine attributes are all working in us. Why? For our maturity. Allah created people with love. Then, in a mature way, with mature nourishment, It is sustaining us, and making us then in possession of kemalat, of maturity, of perfection, It is going to take us back. So we came to this world being loved, and we are going to leave again being loved. Allah Mukit, Allah Hu. Let us know the esma of Mukit in this way, learn it as so, and not confuse it with the esma of Rezzak.
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Al-Kerim: The Generous One

Allah Kerim Allah Hu.
The esma of Kerim is one of the 99 names or attributes of Allah. It is the esma that shows the generosity of Allah.
The esma of Kerim is the attribute of generosity of Allah Who has created everything. Allah is able and capable of all things, it is He Who has created all things and everything that He has created is in the state of offering and the attribute that shows the generosity in the state of offering is the attribute of Kerim. This attribute of Kerim is one of the greatest attributes that comes after Rahman, the Merciful, and Rahim, the Beneficent. It is with this that He is offering to all things that are created and it is through this offering that we find life. When the attribute of Kerim is opened inside of people, then those people also begin to become generous and this generosity is giving, not just giving money, but also giving love, giving a sweet word, showing a smile, being patient when angry, not doing bad things and showing goodness as a response to badness. All things like this fall under giving.
People have two important characteristics and it is these characteristics that will bring you closer to Allah. The first characteristic is giving and the second is loving. and this giving and loving are twins. When people live with these, they become perfect. Loving and giving, both of these characteristics make a person beautiful and bring a person closer to Allah.
We have to look at generosity. At least, whatever we are eating we should also feed the people we are with. What does this mean? This means that people have to help one another. However much we can be an offering to one another, Allah will also be that much an offering to us. Because the true place of those who are Kerim is Allah.
The path of dervishness is the road that goes to the attribute of Kerim. A dervish is giving, he is not one who holds. He will give all of the love in his heart to people and he will give it to animals. He will give this love to everything that lives in nature and in exchange for this he will get the love of Allah.
All of the prophets who are in possession of the Divine Light of Muhammed, all of the Aziz, the saints, all the evliyas, the friends of Allah, have attained the attribute of Kerim.
Ya Rabb, we ask of you, do not separate us from their footsteps. Make it our nasib, our lot, to walk their beautiful path and let us live among each other with this love. Always increase the ashk, the Divine Love, in our hearts. Ya Rabb, do not separate us from one another. Make it our nasib to have the Nur of Muhammed, the Divine Light of Muhammed, born in our hearts. These come from the attribute of Kerim. With His attribute of Kerim Allah is offering to all things He has created. To work is up to us. To give comes from Allah. However much we work that is how much offering we will get in exchange. Allah says, "Surely, I will give you what you have worked for."
Allah Kerim, Allah Hu.
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Al-Hayy: The Everlasting One

Allah Hayy Allah Hu.
The esma of Hayy shows the life and aliveness that Ya Allah the Creator has given to all Its creation. The One that is in possession of perfect life is Allah. All aliveness is in Allah.
Allahu la illaha illa Hu al Hayy al Qayyum.
Allah is Hayy, and Allah is Qayyum.
Allah is alive and living. The eternal life is Allah's. Everything is to return to Him, and the actual life is to be found there. Allah is Hayy, and the servant will see this as being in its place, and will take their precaution. Allah has created everything in its place and beautiful., and given this life, and this life passes. Inside of this life, to make people work, It has given them knowledge, and with this people are acting. The minerals, the plants, the animals - everything that is created - inside of this attribute of life, with the knowledge that Allah has given - are living in a beneficial way. They are living in a way that is beneficial for human kind. Everything that is created is created for service to humankind, and everything has a life. For example, you see that tree? It has life. How do you know this? When it has shed its leaves and is dried up as if it was dead... but when the time comes, the leaves come out green. And It shows Its aliveness. And everything is like this. Look at this moment, at nature everywhere in the world - places that are dead have all come alive, and have become green. And that is why the color of the esma of Hayy is green.
It is with this that Allah has given life. If we know the value of this life, and we live well in the existence of this life, we will gain the eternal life of Allah. Allah has given us eyes, and It sees with this Nur, the divine light of life. Allah has given us breath, it is with this that our life continues. This is existence in the human being, and also in the animal, and also in the minerals that It has created and in the vegetation that It has created. It sees everything; everything feels, and everything lives in the best way for their own life.
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Al-Qayyum: The Self-Existing One
Allah Qayyum Allah Hu.
The esma of Qayyum is the esma, the self-existing one, that keeps everything in its place and animated and on its feet. The esma of Qayyum that comes from the root of qayim, is the esma that brings everything to life.
Earlier we had spoken of the esma of Hayy, and now we are going to speak on the attribute of Qayyum. These two attributes are one whole that is not divisible. This week I'm going to speak on the attribute of Qayyum. This is an attribute of the most important ones of the creator Allah. The one that holds everything that It has created in its place, and makes them live, and animates them, is the attribute of Qayyum. If we look around us, we will see how this attribute works. It is a very lively attribute. Look at the universes that Allah has created. There are many planets in space, many stars. There is the planet that is called earth. Everything is working in its place, correctly. None of them become confused about their place, and they are all standing, and this shows the attribute of Qayyum. When we do it, we will see this attribute. When we look at ourselves, Allah created us, gave us a spirit (in today's terminology we call this 'energy'); this made us alive, and the attribute of Qayyum is keeping this standing. For example, in the human body there are thousands of cells that are dying and coming to life, and their dying and being resurrected again is the attribute of Qayyum. He brings them to life with the attribute of Qayyum, with the attribute of Hayy gives them life, and because the two work together, the attributes of Hayy and Qayyum are known as the ismi-azam, the great names, in the Koran. It is a very important name, and when people are in problems, if they do the tesbih, the repetition of the Hayy and Qayyum esmas, then they will come to the opening of this ismi-azam, this great name. They will find life, and they will find aliveness.
One of the beauties of the attribute of Qayyum, without changing anything, is holding everything in its own attribute. It seems to be changing, but its essence doesn't, it is only the views of the attributes that are changing. Let me give an example. There are coins, and let us say this one coin is worth $1000. You remove this money, and you put paper money in its stead. Its essence is still there, but its appearance has changed. That paper money has become qayim, standing in the place of, that coin; it is holding it in its place, without changing its essence. And we, people, are also like this. Without corrupting our essence, we will live in different dimensions, and this is the manifestation of the esma of Qayyum. We are standing in our own essence; what changes are the appearances. And this world is the same. The planets are the same. Everything that works in the universe, works with the manifestation of the attributes of Hayy and Qayyum.
There are more expanding explanations, and these cannot be opened up in a short period. We would need much time and much experience, for a person to be able to understand these attributes with their own feelings. Whenever you can feel these existences, then a person will be able to understand these attributes better, because these attributes that show the existence of Allah, can only be explained so far through ilim, through knowledge. Only through living and gaining experience, and seeing this within your own inner being - then you will be able to understand this better. And these 99 attributes are like this. If you listen to the tapes of these esmas of Hayy and Qayyum you will understand better. One of the meanings of the esma of Qayyum is to stand: You will be sleeping, they will wake you up - and one of the meanings of waking up is to stand. And one of the meanings of the attribute of Qayyum, is coming from the same word, qiyamet, resurrection. What is qiyamet? Is is the people lighting up, and this is also from the attribute of Qayyum. This lighting up amoung people can happen with beauty and goodness and it can happen with badness, and this is called qiyamet, the resurrection. Again, this is inside of the attribute of Qayyum.
The essence doesn't change; the essence is the human being. It is the appearance of the characters that can change. That's why we have to understand the attributes of Hayy and Qayyum very well, so a person can know how and where to live. This world is finite; what is infinite is Allah. He is always Hayy and Qayyum. He is self-existent. His own being is always living, and as long as He is, humanity also will be. The attributes that change here are the characters, the attribute of Allah doesn't change: He will let those 99 attributes work; these attributes will change the characteristics that you have. That is why we are emphasizing these 99 attributes so much; they are necessary for all of us. All of us have to look into this mirror and straighten our characters accordingly. The most beautiful mirror is the mirror of these 99 esmas, and these have been taught to us by the prophet and the saints, the evliya. As we follow their path our experience will increase, and with our own feelings we will be able to understand these esmas. Hayyum-Qayyum is ismi-azam, a great name, so let us not forget this. Whenever you are stressed, whenever you are under pressure, let us recite this a lot, and we will push the stress off of us, and then we will be with the Being within His Being.
Allah Qayyum, Allah Hu
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Az-Zahir: The Manifest One- The attribute of Zahir is the attribute that is most evident in the world. As long as all of the world, all of the human beings in this world, don't correct their Zahir, the goodness and beauty of Allah will not manifest. If we take our steps properly, then we will encounter the beauty of Allah. What is our Zahir? It is our actions. We have to correct these, and then we can find goodness and beauty.

Allah Zahir Allah Hu.
The esma of Zahir is one of the 99 attributes of Allah. Its meaning shows the manifest face, the evident face, of Allah the Creator in everything that He has created. It is the reflection of the outward face of Allah on the surface of this world.
Everywhere our eyes are seeing His being. It is with this attribute of Zahir that He is manifest, and by seeing this everywhere we bear witness to it. Everywhere His being exists. The attribute of Zahir, the External, is the outer appearance. Everything that Allah has created has two appearances. One is the external. This is the one that is necessary for us in this world; it is reality. Then there is the inner appearance, and this is Batin. When Allah is manifest in this world, it is both with His attribute of Zahir and with the attribute of Batin. Everything is fixed accordingly.
Allah checks the actions of the human beings that He has created with the Zahir. This is what He says in the Qurani Kerim: "It is by looking at the Zahir, the Outward, that We pass judgment." However the human being lives in the Zahir, however he acts, determines what he encounters. Allah's judgment is dependent on your actions, because this is what He offers in the Quran: "Whatever your Zahir is like is what My judgment will be." That is why we are always saying that our actions that come into the Zahir have to reflect Allah's oneness so that when Allah gives His judgment, it will be for our own beauty and goodness. If corrupt actions come into our Zahir, then the judgment that Allah gives will cause us to suffer difficulties. We have to live with good ahlak, behavior and conduct, so that our actions can become beautiful, and then Allah's judgment will come to us with goodness and beauty.
Allah created everything, and created it beautifully and well, but because we can't correct our Zahir, prophets have been sent down to this world from the Zahir face of Allah. All of the prophets that have come, all of the evliya, the saints, the friends of Allah, by showing the Zahir attribute of Allah, have given direction to humanity towards this Oneness. The attribute of Zahir is always evident, at every moment. Every breath that we take is reflecting His Zahir attribute. We have to use all of ourselves in a beautiful and good way. We have to correct our Zahir because Allah has given us the mind to do so. He will correct our Batin, our inner side, Himself. That is dependent upon His internal strength. We have to occupy ourselves with the Zahir, and when we correct this Zahir, then Allah is going to send to us the beauty and goodness of the Batin as a present.
The actions that we perform are all the attribute of Zahir of Allah. As we let this good ahlak live, we are showing its reflection of the world on ourselves. Allah gives His judgment by looking at our Zahir. Let us not forget this. To become beautiful, we have to make our Zahir beautiful. Then we are going to turn to our inner face.
Allah Zahir Allah Hu.