al-ʿAzīz al-ʿAlīm as a verse closing
ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ
al-ʿazīz al-ʿalīm — the Mighty, the Knowing
In the two verses given, the pair al-ʿAzīz al-ʿAlīm closes statements about acts of which the two names name the agent: the sun's apportioned course and the sending-down of the Book.
In both verses given, the pair al-ʿazīz al-ʿalīm stands in the genitive (WORD DATA: ADJ MS genitive in each) and closes the verse naming the agent of what precedes: as the genitive complement of 'apportioning' (taqdīr) in (36:38), and in apposition to 'Allah' in (40:2). In (36:38) the sun runs to a place of settlement for it, and the verse states: 'that is the apportioning of the Mighty, the Knowing' — the pair is attached to 'apportioning' (taqdīr), so the two names identify who apportioned the sun's course. In (40:2) the verse opens 'A sending-down of the Book is from Allah, the Mighty, the All-Knowing' — the pair stands in apposition to 'Allah' and identifies the one from whom the sending-down comes. Read together, the pair in these verses marks the source of two distinct acts: an apportioning observed in the sun's motion, and a sending-down of the Book. In both, the first name, al-ʿazīz ('Mighty'), and the second, al-ʿalīm ('Knowing' / 'All-Knowing'), occur in that fixed order, and in each verse the pair answers the question of who stands behind what the verse has just described. The two verses differ in what the names close: in (36:38) they close a statement about a regular course in the natural world; in (40:2) they close a statement about the origin of a book. The translation renders al-ʿalīm as 'the Knowing' in (36:38) and 'the All-Knowing' in (40:2), while the Arabic form is identical in both.
Where it occurs
- 36:38 Closes the verse by naming, in the genitive, the one whose 'apportioning' (taqdīr) the sun's course is.
- 40:2 Closes the verse in apposition to 'Allah', naming the one from whom the sending-down of the Book comes.
All Qur'anic expressions