The Last - Al-ʾAkhir

Al-ʾAkhir, The Endless

“He is the First (Al-Awwal) and the Last (Al-ʾAkhir), the Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing.” (Qur’an 57:3) Knowing God is the First leads us to His being Al-ʾAkhir (The Last), because as Ibn Ata’illah said: “He who is illumined at the beginning is illumined at the end.” God Almighty is the destination. We start with Him in everything that we do so that we can end up with Him. We praise Him at the end of every matter and seek forgiveness from Him for any shortcomings. Ibn Al-Qayyim says that worshipping God Almighty by His Name Al-ʾAkhir is to be unattached to results, and rather to be attached to God Almighty, Who remains no matter the results. If our intention starts with Him, then no matter the outcome, our efforts are recorded by Him and are appreciated because they were for Him. In the Qur’an, God Almighty asks, “So where are you going?” (Qur’an, 81:26) So we need to ask ourselves – where are we going?