The Mighty, the Merciful as verse closure
ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
al-ʿazīz al-raḥīm — the Mighty, the Merciful
In the two cited verses the pair 'the Mighty, the Merciful' closes a statement about the Knower of the hidden and the witnessed (32:6) and a statement about the source of a sending-down (36:5). The pairing holds together power and mercy as attributes of the one who knows and who sends down.
Each occurrence of ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ in these verses stands at the end of a verse concerned with divine knowledge (32:6) or with a sending-down (36:5). In (32:6) the demonstrative 'That' points to a figure described first as 'the Knower of the hidden and the witnessed' and then closed with 'the Mighty, the Merciful'. The verse thus stacks three characterizations: comprehensive knowledge (hidden and witnessed), power ('the Mighty'), and mercy ('the Merciful'). The closing pair does not repeat the knowledge statement but adds to it: the one who knows all things is also mighty and merciful, so the knowledge is set within a frame of power exercised with mercy. In (36:5) the pair appears in the genitive, dependent on 'A sending-down from': the sending-down is attributed to 'the Mighty, the Merciful'. Here the pair identifies the source of the sending-down, and its position at the verse's end makes it the final word about that source. Read together, the two verses show the pair functioning as a seal on statements about divine knowing and divine sending-down: in (32:6) it completes a description of the knower; in (36:5) it names the sender. In both, the order is fixed, 'the Mighty' before 'the Merciful', so that power is stated first and mercy follows as the final note.
Where it occurs
- 32:6 Closes the description of 'the Knower of the hidden and the witnessed', adding might and mercy to the statement of comprehensive knowledge.
- 36:5 In the genitive after 'A sending-down from', names the source of the sending-down and ends the verse.
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