virtue of motion is above being affected by time; therefore, neither "past" nor "future" can
apply to Him. The Truth, Exalted is He, is before time, since He Himself created time, and
nothing in Him changed, and He was before time, and He remains after His creation of time
just as He has always been and will always be. Those who have claimed that duration is a
characteristic added to the essence of al-Baqi are far from the truth, and still further from the
truth than them are those who claim that time is an additional quality in as far as the Eternal
One is concerned. There is no need to bother the reader with details about such confusion
regarding existence, duration, and which qualities endure.
Allah's existence stands on its own merits and is self-necessitating, that is, it does not accept
extinction in any way. The duration of anything which is self-sustaining during the past and
will remain so in the future as well as it did in the past is called old, and its duration in the
future is called existence.
The subject of enduring and duration attributed to Allah has been referred to in the text of the
Holy Qura'n in more than one place. Examples are the following:
... and the sustenance of your Lord is better and more abiding. (20:131) And there will endure
forever the person of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honour. (55:27) ... what is with Allah is
better and more lasting for those who believe and rely on their Lord. (42:36)
... ever-abiding good deeds are with your Lord best in recompense and best in yielding fruit.
(19:76)
The good fortune a servant of Allah may receive if he remembers this Attribute quite often is
that the Almighty will reveal to him enduring facts and will make him observe the perishing
trails, so he will flee eagerly to al-Baqi and decorate his conduct with the meanings its
qualities and moral code suggest.
- "Al-Warith"
Allah has said, ... Allah's is the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is aware of
everything you do. (3:180)
Al-Warith, Glory to Him, remains after the extinction of all beings. He inherits everything
after the extinction of everyone and everything. He is the Heir: on the Day of Judgment, it
will be loudly called out, "To whom does the kingdom belong this Day? To Allah, the One,
The Subduer (of all)" (Qura'n, 40:16).
The root word of the Attribute "al-Warith" is "waratha," inherited: He will inherit all beings
after their extinction. He is the only One Who remains after those who used to think that they
possessed wares and items, the things which He had given them, will be gone; their existence,
as well as that of what He has given them, is dependent on Him, and on none else. He has