الْآخِرُ
Al-Akhir
The Last
What Al-Akhir Means
Al-Akhir, the Last, is the second name of the verse: ‘He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden’ (57:3). The Prophet (saw) explained it in his supplication: ‘You are the Last, and there is nothing after You’ (Muslim 2713). Everything created is travelling towards an end — ‘Everything will perish except His Face’ (28:88) — while Al-Akhir remains, everlasting, when the present world is folded away. Scholars note the comfort hidden in the pairing with Al-Awwal: the One who was there before you began will still be there after everything you fear has passed away. For the believer facing loss — of health, of loved ones, of the world itself — this name is a promise: the story does not end in emptiness; it ends, as it began, with Allah.
Al-Akhir in the Quran
هُوَ ٱلْأَوَّلُ وَٱلْـَٔاخِرُ وَٱلظَّـٰهِرُ وَٱلْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
“He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is All-Knowing about every thing.”
وَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا ءَاخَرَ ۘ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُۥ ۚ لَهُ ٱلْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
“And do not invoke any other god along with Allah. There is no god but He. Every thing is going to perish except His Face. He alone has the right to judge, and to Him you are to be returned.”
What the Prophet ﷺ Taught Us
THE FOUNDATION OF THE 99 NAMES
“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
“Suhail reported that Abu Salih used to command us (in these words): When any one of you intends to go to sleep, he should lie on the bed on his right side and then say:” O Allah.”
Calling Upon Allah by This Name
Allah Himself commands us to call upon Him by His beautiful names:
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
“For Allah there are the most beautiful names. So, call Him by them, and leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they have been doing.”
End your day with the Prophet’s (saw) words: ‘You are the Last; there is nothing after You’ (Muslim 2713). When something beloved comes to an end, say in your own words: ‘Ya Akhir — O Last, who remains when all else passes — let my own end be a good one with You, and make what I have lost a path towards what never ends.’
Quran translations: Mufti Taqi Usmani. Hadith texts and gradings: the Glory of Iman hadith library. Every reference on this page is from the Quran or from hadith graded Sahih or Hasan.